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Jaecorti ant) Crtbute 

Canton, jSeto gorit 



1899-1914 



ALMON GUNNISON, D.D., LL.D. 



RECORD AND TRIBUTE 



A TESTIMONIAL TO 



ALMON GUNNISON, D.D., LLD. 



PRESIDENT OF 



ST. LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY 



Presented on the occasion of his Retirement 
after Fifteen Years of distinguished service. 



\ ' !Vc WOO ^ ^ 



CANTON, NEW YORK 

NOV. 1914 






Pt.AINDEAl.ER PRESS, CANTON, NEW YORK 



Gift 
MAR 30 1915 



PREFATORY NOTE 

The "Record and Tribute" which the reader holds 
in his hand is the typographical rendering of a num- 
ber of occurrences in which a good many people were 
interested. They were grouped about one person- 
ality and were evoked by one incident in his life. But 
what he had done before and was likely to do after- 
wards imported such significance into them as made 
all who were concerned wish to have a replica of them 
for preservation. As usual in such cases, the appeal 
was taken to the printer, and herewith is presented 
the result. 



THE RESIGNATION 

In his Annual Report to the Board of Trustees of 
St. Lawrence University, presented June 8, 1914, 
President Gunnison said : 

It has been my intention during my entire occupancy of 
office to retire when I had reached the age of seventy years ; 
for I recognize the fact that there is a time to be young and a 
time to be old and I have always dreaded lagging super- 
fluous on the stage. Old men for counsel, young men for 
action, is the law of life, and the Presidency of St. Law- 
rence University requires a man of action, as well as a man 
of counsel. I would say that beyond the fact that the cal- 
endar is against me I have no intimation that age has yet 
fastened its fangs upon me — but the scars I received as I 
passed the seventieth milestone are, I fear, permanent decor- 
ations; and while I can ignore facts, we have to succumb to 
figures. I am seventy years of age, and my good wife re- 
minds me that I have got to stop calling myself young. Gen- 
tlemen, you will all have to come to it and I tell you, you 
won't like it. I intended to resign at this meeting to take ef- 
fect at the end of my fifteen years of service, November 1. 
The new college year would have begun and the college ma- 
chinery would have been adjusted. 

The considerations which influenced Dr. Gunnison 
to withold the actual letter of his resignation in June, 
were the occasion of the appointment of a committee 
to consider the entire situation. Numerous confer- 
ences and various proposals ensued, all having their 
impulse in the desire to prolong his connection with 
the University as its head. After some weeks of de- 
lay and deliberation Dr. Gunnison felt that he must 
carry out his original intention, and accordingly sub- 



A Record and a Tribute 



mitted his resignation, *'to take effect November 1, 
1914." 

ACTION OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 

The committee appointed for the purpose recom- 
mended that the following testimonial to Dr. Gunni- 
son be adopted and spread upon the minutes of the 
Trustees, and an engrossed copy thereof be sent to 
Dr. Gunnison. The recommendation was unani- 
mously adopted. 

Fifteen years ago Dr. Gunnison relinquished a congenial 
pastorate to accept the call of The St. Lawrence University 
to become its President. 

In this new field he found conditions such as would have 
discouraged one less resolute. The endowment of the insti- 
tution was meagre; the classes small; the faculty insuffi- 
ciently paid; the buildings and equipment inadequate. 

Dr. Gunnison, with the aid of a loyal faculty, staunch 
alumni, and a host of friends, and equipped with scholarly 
attainments, executive ability, unlimited resourcefulness, a 
most charming personality, and dynamic enthusiasm, has in 
a few years achieved the greater St. Lawrence of today. 

During his stewardship the endowment has grown from 
$156,000 to $562,000 ; the student body has quadrupled ; there 
have been added the departments of Law and Agriculture; 
the receipts from tuition have increased from $2,800 to 
$9,288;* the buildings have grown from four to fourteen; 
the campus area has been multiplied many times; a mag- 
nificent athletic field has been provided; the older buildings 
have been reconstructed; the faculty has been enlarged and 
its compensation made adequate ; old friends have been re- 
tained and hosts of new ones acquired. 

*The total income of the College in 1899, as reported by the Treasurer, 
was $12,522.69. The total income of the College in 1914 was $38,070.70. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 



Any public expression which we may give of our esteem 
for Dr. Gunnison and of our appreciation of the magnifi- 
cent work which he has performed during his incumbency 
must, because of human limitations, be miserably inadequate 
to express our affection for the man, and our admiration and 
gratitude for the splendid results of his work. We recognize 
the sacrifice he has made in the interest of St. Lawrence by 
devoting to its upbuilding and permanence the golden years 
of his life. 

Our gratitude and good wishes will follow Dr. Gunnison 
always. 

MADE PRESIDENT EMERITUS 

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees held in Can- 
ton, Saturday, October 24, it was unanimously enacted 
that the Rev. Dr. Almon Gunnison be appointed and 
constituted President Emeritus of the St. Lawrence 
University, with a salary of one thousand dollars. 
The office had not before existed, but was created to 
insure the continuance of his official connection with 
the University. 

AT THE ALBANY CONVOCATION 

The Convocation of New York State educators at 
Albany, occurring October 23, the evening before the 
farewell reception planned to take place in Canton, 
was availed of by those present to put on record their 
esteem for two of their number who were just retiring 
from active public service, Dr. J. M. Taylor, of Vassar 
College, and Dr. Almon Gunnison, of St. Lawrence. 
Judge Ledyard P. Hale was asked to speak in behalf 
of the latter, and responded in the following address : 



A Record and a Tribute 



I appear on this occasion more as an alumnus than as a 
trustee, and far more as an individual than as Judge Hale. 

I could not allow this convocation to go by without testi- 
fying in public on behalf of everybody who has an interest 
in St. Lawrence University, to the quality as well as the 
quantity of service rendered to that institution by President 
Gunnison in his fifteen years' administration. 

St. Lawrence University is not a university in the modern 
acceptation of that term, and in fact never was and never 
was intended to be. But in 1854 the terms "college" and 
"university" were not distinguished as to meaning, and any- 
thing was a university that undertook to do more than con- 
duct the old-fashioned college; and it was intended at that 
time that there should be, in addition to the college, a theo- 
logical school and a law school. The theological school was 
established, and later the law school was established, but was 
subsequently discontinued for many years. 

St. Lawrence University is a college, and it answers the 
same function in that region of the state of New York north 
of the Adirondacks in the St. Lawrence valley that Middle- 
bury College exercises, and has for 150 years, in the state 
of Vermont. The St. Lawrence county people came almost 
wholly from the state of Vermont and they brought with 
them the ideas of education and morality that were prev- 
alent in that state. As great an observer and as accurate a 
man in the statement of his observations as the author, Irving 
Bacheller, has said, and said after thought, that in St. Law- 
rence county and in Franklin county and in all that region 
lying between the Adirondacks and the St. Lawrence river 
are today found more perfect examples of New England 
character, habits and modes of thought than exist in any 
quarter of New England except solely in Vermont. 

So that we have had there an institution which has been of 
use to us. Fifteen years ago it was threatened with the ne- 
cessity of closing its doors unless the endowment could be 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 



permanently increased. It was in the stress of need of actual 
funds for continued life when President Gunnison was 
called to its presidency. I am glad to say that every pre- 
diction that was made for him by his friends^ — and I was one 
of them — has been more than fulfilled. His actual accomp- 
lishment in the office of president of that institution has been 
greater than any friend of his could possibly have foretold. 

He has more than quadrupled the endowment. He has 
more than quadrupled the buildings. Under his adminis- 
tration the number of students has more than doubled ; the 
amount paid in for tuition has more than quadrupled ; and 
along with it all has gone an increase in the fibre and the 
character of the faculty, and of the teaching, and of the 
administration. 

There has not been, on the whole, any period of years 
since he came to the presidency that the school has not lived 
upon its actual income. There were a few years when sub- 
scriptions had to be obtained to pay the annual deficit, but 
taking the period as a whole, giving some credit to these sub- 
scriptions, the endowment has been so increased from time 
to time that at the end of the financial year the bills in- 
curred during the year have been paid out of income, and I 
am happy to say that this last financial year we had an actual 
surplus in good faith of upwards of $2000 of receipts over 
all our expenditures and all our liabilities. 

I shall not on this occasion take more time. On the fif- 
tieth anniversary, which was in 1904, Professor Charles K. 
Gaines, who was a classmate of mine, read a poem from 
which I am going to read a few verses. Doctor Gunnison 
had the privilege of being there during the last five years of 
the first half century, and the greater privilege of being there 
the first ten years of the second half century of the life of 
St. Lawrence. And what we think of it I am going to ask 
you to infer from the verses which I shall read from the 
poem by Professor Gaines : 



10 A Record and a Tribute 

"Not beneath fretted arch and glittering dome 
In mansions lifted by the spell of gold, 
Are found the hearts that truly love a home ; 
But under smoky rafters, warped and old, 
Shut in by walls that scarce shut out the cold. 
Close gathered round a hearth of roughest stone. 
The sturdy stock is bred that truly loves its own. 

"Rightly we love our own; in all the earth 
Are none that claim my heart in like degree 
With those I reared, and those who gave me birth, 
And her I chose; justly mine own to me 
Are more than multitudes ; there well may be 
Regions more fair than this, but none so dear; 
Here have I set my home ; my native land is here. 

"And thus we love our college; 'tis our own. 
To us the plain brick walls on yonder hill 
Are more than all the piles of sculptured stone 
For others reared, though wrought with matchless skill. 
We loved it in our happiest days, and still 
We love the very ground whereon it stands. 
And ever at its call throng forth with willing hands. 

"Can any man among you build an oak? 
Could you, with money rear it in a day — 
Fashion its living trunk by hammer-stroke? 
Dead walls you might pile high, of stone or clay; 
The oak mounts heavenward in a slower way. 
In fifty years a sturdy stalk you see; 
After an hundred years — behold the perfect tree !" 



Dr. Gunnison being presented by the presiding of- 
ficer, was warmly received by the assembly, and spoke 
as follows: 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 11 



I am glad to be here today. I have to state that my work 
as a fellow associate with you is to be ended and that, with 
my friend, Doctor Taylor, of Vassar, I am about to join 
the great army of has-beens. We, who are about to die, 
salute you! 

Following the language of my friend, Doctor Rhees, who 
used a phrase involving the word "obituary," I can say that, 
like most people, I have never before participated in my own 
funeral, and I wish to say, from what I have heard, that I 
have enjoyed my obituary very much. 

I detect in this unique celebration that sends me into re- 
tirement, the fine Roman hand of my long-loved friend, the 
Chancellor, and my new friend, the Commissioner of Educa- 
tion, of the State of New York. I have known him but a 
short time, but, with you all, I have learned to love him for 
his kindness, for his genial spirit, and for all those splendid 
qualities that show us that he not only fills but adorns the 
large place that he occupies in the educational system of New 
York. 

I am personally grateful to my old friend and colleague, 
Judge Hale, for the more than kind words that he has said 
of me, and I esteem it a great honor that the Board of Re- 
gents, who have shown to me and to others connected with 
our educational system unwearied and unmeasured kind- 
nesses, is thus sending us into retirement with its good 
wishes. 

The greatest thing to me and to you in the world is a col- 
lege. There is nothing like it. Other things grow old with 
years, but the mosses that gather on college walls do not 
weaken but increase their strength. Long ago it was said by 
a man who has become distinguished in our educational 
world in the State of New York, "I would give $100,000 if 
the college that I represent could only have a history." It 
had moved from a small town into one of the largest and 
most enterprising cities in the State and he felt that the 
largest asset that it could have in its work would be a history. 



12 A Record and a Tribute 

It is a great thing for a college to have the strength of 
years. The mosses gather on its walls but they give it power, 
and the alumni go out into their waiting world with a con- 
stantly enlarging affection for their alma mater. 

It has been a great privilege to me to be associated with 
this work, and to have received from my associates 
the many kindnesses and courtesies that have come to me. 
And as I stand here, with the newcomers behind me, whose 
reception is to follow these mortuary remarks, we can say 
that in our heart of hearts we envy them the great work that 
lies before them, which in the providence of God it is per- 
mitted us to lay aside. 

And I wish to thank my college associates, and the many 
secondary teachers in the State whom I have met under such 
pleasant auspices. I want to thank them for the courtesy 
and the kindness that I have received at their hands, that they 
have been forgetful of my faults and remembered the few 
virtues that I have possessed. I bid them, with all hearti- 
ness, my God-speed. I shall always remember this supreme 
moment in my history and I shall carry with me into my re- 
tirement pleasant memories, not only of this hour, but of the 
many hours that I have worked with them at our common 
task. 

It is a great thing to have been privileged for a little time 
to build some stones into so large an institution as a college, 
and to breathe into the minds and the hearts and the char- 
acters of the young who are to shape and influence the fu- 
ture, those things that have not only the promise of the life 
that is, but of the life that is to be. 

I thank you all for this kindness and for the many kind- 
nesses that I have received at your hands, and like my as- 
sociate. Dr. Taylor, I offer the prayer that your lives may be 
long, and that your prosperity may be as large as your de- 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 13 

THE RECEPTION IN CANTON 

The great event in the series of which this is the 
record occurred, appropriately, in Canton and in one 
of the University buildings. Immediately after Dr. 
Gunnison's resignation became known in the village, 
and in the surrounding country, a common feeling 
took possession of those interested in the University, 
which was not long in crystallizing into a definite pur- 
pose. A volunteer committee, having Secretary 
Frank N. Cleaveland for scribe and Mr. W. N. Beard, 
of the First National Bank, for Chairman, was formed 
to put into effective operation the will and wish of the 
University community. 

It was agreed that an opportunity should be given 
for such a wide and free expression of the general es- 
teem for Dr. and Mrs. Gunnison, and of the general 
regret at their going, as would include practically 
everybody. A reception was accordingly planned to 
be held in the Gymnasium on Saturday evening, Octo- 
ber 24. The invitation gave no hint of any lines 
drawn. It was to be a popular greeting to those in 
whom the people of the North Country had come to 
feel a sort of proprietorship. Of course, the Uni- 
versity family — faculties, students, trustees — had the 
function in charge ; and of course they comprised the 
major part of the reception procession. But in the 
close and continuous stream that poured along for 
hours, as conducted by an organized body of student 
ushers, were representatives of the county, the city, 
the professions, the trades, in short of the whole pop- 



14 A Record and a Tribute 

ulace. The Hill News, published every Monday by 
the Press Association of the University, printed the 
following account of what it entitled a "Brilliant Oc- 
casion'* : 

In the presence of between four and five hundred admir- 
ing but sorrowing friends, Dr. Almon Gunnison, the retiring 
president of the University was tendered a farewell re- 
ception in the Gymnasium on Saturday evening. In recog- 
nition of his work, he was presented with a handsome silver 
loving-cup, and was made President Emeritus of the Uni- 
versity — the first who ever received that honor at St. Law- 
rence. 

The reception line formed soon after eight o'clock and con- 
sisted of General E. A. Merritt, chairman of the Board of 
Trustees, Dr. Gunnison, Mrs. Gunnison, Dr. I. M. Atwood, 
Mrs. Atwood, Hon. Ledyard P. Hale, 76, and Mrs. Hale. 
Men from the classes of '16 and '17 acted as ushers, girls 
from the class of '16 served refreshments, and four girls 
from the class of '14 presided at the refreshment tables. 

After the guests had been escorted down the reception line, 
Hon. Ledyard P. Hale, '76, with an appropriate speech pre- 
sented the loving-cup, a gift of the students, friends, and 
trustees to Dr. Gunnison. Recalling at length Dr. Gunni- 
son's immense services to the college, he said in conclusion, 
"And in token of our everlasting gratitude, love, respect, and 
regret at your departure, we give to you this cup, full of the 
milk of human kindness, always overflowing and never 
emptied." 

The cup itself was a handsome goblet with three handles, 
inscribed with an appropriate sentiment in Latin. It stands 
fully twenty inches high on a mahogany pedestal, and is 
very artistic in its design. 

In receiving the loving cup Dr. Gunnison thanked the trus- 
tees, faculty, students, and townspeople for their co-operation 
which had helped rnake possible the work that he had ac- 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 15 



complished, **I consider you my dearest friends," he said, 
"and it is with deepest regret that I take my leave." 

Many college songs were then sung, and dancing was en- 
joyed for a short time. 

Among the older alumni who were present were C. W. 
Appleton, '97, H. M. Conkey, '99, W. B. Gunnison, '75, H. F. 
Gunnison, '80, Hugh Abbott, '03, V. P. Abbott, '67, C. S. 
Brewer, '91, Owen D. Young, '94, Nelson L. Robinson, '77, G. 
E. VanDelinder, '07, J. F. McKinney, '93, and J. C. Dolan, '96. 

The reproduction in the cut on a previous page 
gives a very good idea of the loving-cup, the presen- 
tation of which was the central feature of the Canton 
Reception. It is of sterling silver, triple-faced, de- 
signed, mounted, engraved and decorated by Tiffany 
and Company, of New York. Its beauty, elegance 
and obvious value, do not constitute its chief worth ; 
but they enhance and preserve it. The judgment and 
taste of mankind do but reflect the like qualities in the 
Creator, in discerning a fine relation between the most 
exalted sentiments and the most precious metals and 
gems. The purest and best in one form are instinct- 
ively chosen to express the purest and best in the 
other. 

The testimonial was an integral feature in the 
planning of the Canton Reception. The prompt and 
general response to the committee's invitation determ- 
ined the character of the symbol which should be 
chosen to express the public feeling. To one con- 
scious of having done a great and needed service, all 
material awards of merit appear much like childish 
trinkets. The real recompense is in the soul satisfac- 
tion which ensues from such service. But it is pleas- 



16 A Record and a Tribute 

ant, "and praise is comely." And it loses nothing by 
being fitly and artistically enshrined. 

The ceremony of presentation was simple and dig- 
nified, as befitted the occasion. The address on be- 
half of those who had united in the reception and testi- 
monial, was made by the Hon. Ledyard P. Hale ; and 
except for the introduction, and the concluding sen- 
tence of presentation, followed the same text as his 
address of the evening before at Albany, given above. 

DR. GUNNISON'S RESPONSE 

Friends, this is one of the supreme moments of my life. 
This large company that has come here tonight, the friends 
that I have known and loved for many years, the many words 
of kindness that have been spoken to me in these recent days, 
have touched me with the greatest feeling of gratitude that 
has been possible for me to possess. My life in Canton has 
been to me delightful ; and while I remember sometimes 
with sadness the many things that have been my share to do, 
I look back upon it all and feel that I have few things to re- 
gret. I have received during my entire life undeserved kind- 
ness, a kindness that has always borne upon me the great joy 
of accomplishment. 

I wish to speak a moment of the kindness of the Trustees 
of this institution. My esteemed friend. Judge Hale, who so 
kindly presented my name yesterday at Albany for the honor 
that the Board of Regents bestowed upon me, alluded with 
great skill to some of the things that I have been privileged to 
accomplish for this university; and I shall never forget the 
appreciation that came to me yesterday at that great gather- 
ing in Albany. But the people there were acquaintances and 
not friends, and tonight I feel that I am in the home of my 
friends ; and it has been particularly borne in upon me dur- 
ing these last few memorable weeks and months that I held 




HONORIS CAUSA 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 17 

a very large part in your hearts. It will give me in my re- 
tirement a great joy to take with me the consciousness that I 
leave behind friends true and lasting, and I shall always enjoy 
and use my privilege to come back very often to this familiar 
place which I have loved so much. 

I have been connected with this town for over forty years : 
as a student, as a trustee of the university, and for fifteen 
years as its president. As I think of these years and of the 
friendships that have been made for me, I rejoice with an 
exceeding joy that these friends are not to be lost. When I 
came to St. Lawrence I thought I did a most foolish thing. 
Three times by your kindness I had been elected president. 
At first it was impossible for me, much as I had learned to 
love the institution where I served as a student and as a 
trustee; but at last the third call came and the lure of St. 
Lawrence, which I had always loved, brought me from my 
pleasant home, where I expected to end my days, from my 
pleasant residence, from the city and from the church where 
I was ministering with a fair amount of success. That lure 
came from this north country, and despite wisdom, prudence, 
the kindness of friends, it brought me here. I was singu- 
larly unfortunate when the call came, in the fact that my 
wife was a sick woman in a sanitarium. For ten years dur- 
ing my residence here she dwelt under that great shadow 
with which you are familiar, and I was unfortunately de- 
prived of that loving service and companionship which I be- 
lieved and hoped was to be in my new work, the great help 
of my life. Through the providence of God, the cloud at last 
lifted and for several years it has been her complete happi- 
ness to stand at my side and give me encouragement and 
sympathy. I wish to thank the ladies for their great kind- 
ness that they bestowed upon her and for the help of the 
citizens in my work 

Today the trustees have held important meetings. I was 
asked at a late hour to excuse myself from the room. I 
hesitated as I did not know what would be done. As I rose 
reluctantly to go, I said to my friend Appleton, oterwis^e 



18 A Record and a Tribute 



known as Judge, "Well, I see that I am not wanted," and left 
the room. After a while I was waited upon by this same 
honorable judge and brought back to the room, where I re- 
ceived at the hands of the trustees the surprising intelligence 
and the great honor of election as "Emeritus President." 
When I came to this place I received the great honor to be 
called here to do work, but this new title came not in the 
hope and promise of success, but in the assurance of those 
who think that my work has not been entirely in vain. 

It has been a great pleasure to me that for many years I 
have been privileged to build stones in the rising walls of 
this institution and that it has been a privilege also to weave 
some finer threads in the character and intelligence of all 
the students who have been under my care. I cannot thank 
the trustees too much for the large co-operation and sym- 
pathy that has marked our association together. In all my 
experiences I have found these strong men standing at my 
side, avoiding criticism, only asking what to do; and with 
great cheerfulness and service they have helped me in the 
great work that I have been privileged to do. 

I want to thank at this time the Executive Board with 
whom I have been associated during my residence here. 
They have been more than faithful and they have been to me 
the most unfailing friends. When I first came and they asked 
me what I wanted done, I said, "I do not want to have around 
me a set of dummies and I do not want you to accept every- 
thing that I propose." Accordingly, with great liberty and 
sincerity, they have been very free in expressing them- 
selves. They have sometimes differed from me on my poli- 
cies and plans, but I have always compromised the situation 
by accepting their wishes, being sorry on my way home that 
they were not as wise as I was. But when I thought it out I 
found that these good fellows after all were right and I was 
wrong. 

Then I want to thank the Faculty. When I came here I was 
a raw untoered kind 6i a Freshman. I kneW ncrthiiig of 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 19 



college administration. The things I did not know if written 
in a book would fill the Encyclopedia Britannica ; but I came 
in my ignorance to do the best I could. I was accepted with 
confidence, and during all these years, these strong men, 
whom I presently learned to admire, and soon to love, were 
very forgetful of my faults. Tonight I return to them with 
unspeakable gratitude thanks for their kindly consideration, 
for their great courtesy toward me that has attended our 
working together. 

What shall I say of the boys and girls of the college? 
They have treated me so much better than I deserved. I 
have received from the boys and girls a courtesy and a kind- 
ness that will linger very long with pleasure in my mind. 
When I have met them on the streets, the hat has been 
raised. When they have met me in the president's room, if 
only for seances of a personal nature, they have greeted me 
with respect — not always with admiration, but always with 
kindness ; and I hold our boys and girls in highest esteem. I 
shall follow them in the years to come with an unspeakable 
hope and gratitude, and shall hope for them the largest suc- 
cess. 

I am very grateful to the townspeople. My relations with 
the citizens of this town have been pleasant; and while I 
have not been able to participate in their affairs as I would 
have liked because my work demanded my time and absorbed 
my energy, I hold this town in large esteem. During the past 
summer here I have chosen my home as the place of all 
others to spend the leisure hours of the summer vacation. I 
love the old town. It stands high in my esteem for its beauty, 
for the character and friendship of its people. I shall al- 
ways think of Canton and shall think of it very much, with 
pleasure that I have been privileged to enter Into its life and 
enjoy its privileges^ 

Speaking of the cup, I do not know what I shall do with 
it. It is a big cup and I am a temperance man. The only 
hope that I have is that I have brothers who are present to- 



20 A Record and a Tribute 

night who will perhaps consent to initiate me into the mys- 
teries of the loving cup. Last evening at the very delightful 
dinner tendered me by Judge Hale, I said that I had been 
living for several years on a diet of egg-nog. Judge Hale 
who is an expert in all lines of liquors did not make that egg- 
nog right. I do not know much about it, as my daughter has 
been making it for me. I told him last night that I had been 
accustomed to drinking egg-nog. He called the waiter and 
I told him the different ingredients. It was in the city of 
Albany, where the temperance wave has not yet reached, and 
when I suggested that something must be put in to take away 
the taste of tgg, he overdid the matter and made it very much 
like a cocktail. I do not know what that is but I understand 
it is very good. It seemed to me that I never tasted any con- 
coction that smelled so strong of old New England rum. I 
was obliged to drink under the faithful guidance of my 
friend and it has kept me awake during the tedious journey 
home. I shall learn under the guidance of my brothers to 
mix in the bowl the punch, and when you come to see me, if 
the brothers who reside near me have not been there be- 
fore you, I shall hope to take one of the handles and give you 
a taste of the contents — so dear to the hearts of gentle- 
men and ladies who have experienced some of these things — 
and let you study the inscription on this loving-cup, which 
is so likely to be a temptation to the burglars who infest the 
pleasant town where I am hereafter to pay my taxes. 

Not to weary you with longer words, I wish to thank you, 
one and all, for the favors that I have received and for 
the great privilege that I have seen the supreme monent of 
my life — this moment, while I am standing here before this 
vast multitude of friends. May the Lord be with you and 
bles-s you and keep you, one and all. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 21 

TRIBUTE TO DR. AND MRS. GUNNISON BY 
THE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE 

Dr. Gunnison was not only largely instrumental in 
establishing the State School of Agriculture at St. 
Lawrence University, but has always taken a deep in- 
terest in its welfare. He visited the school often, 
speaking words of encouragement to faculty and stu- 
dents, and expressing his great gratification in its pro- 
gress. So while the faculty and student body were 
invited to the general reception in the Gymnasium and 
responded generally and most heartily, they thought 
it best to show their esteem for Dr. and Mrs. Gunni- 
son by a separate service. Therefore a special chapel 
service was held in their honor on the morning of Oc- 
tober 30 in Dairy Hall. After music by the School 
Orchestra, singing, and a prayer. Dean Cook on be- 
half of the faculty and students presented the retir- 
ing president and his wife with a unique, yet ap- 
propriate testimonial. It was the seal of the uni- 
versity wrought in seeds. Many thousands of seeds 
were used in the process, and so artistically was the 
work done that without any artificial coloring not 
only the form but the color of each part of the seal 
was preserved. 

In presenting this testimonial Dean Cook spoke as 
follows : 

There is joy and sorrow on the hill these days — ^joy be- 
cause President and Mrs. Gunnison have been spared to do 
their share of the world's work which was theirs to do. 
Fifteen years ago St. Lawrence was struggHng for a place 



22 A Record and a Tribute 

among our institutions of higher learning, today she is widely 
known and is performing a distinct service as a part of our 
educational system. 

We feel sorrow at our parting with those we have come to 
love and to appreciate. A visit to the President's office al- 
ways brought encouragement and renewed confidence to all 
who were favored to serve under him. Particularly did 
your speaker need this strong but kindly influence, which 
smoothed the way and straightened out the wrinkles. It was 
like oil upon troubled waters. 

The State School is the youngest child in the University 
family. Ten years ago, before all men saw as they see now, 
President Gunnison with his clear vision foresaw that in- 
dustrial education must be developed and given its rightful 
place in the educational policy of our state. Even before 
the beneficiaries were alive to these necessities, this man, com- 
ing out of an atmosphere not supposed to be conducive to 
the creation of such a vision, began to lay the foundations 
for this school, of which faculty and students alike are proud. 
This young child has needed correction and restraint, and 
always has it come from the guiding hand with firmness, 
tempered with charity. 

As he leaves us may a wise providence take possession ; 
may our faults and mistakes somehow, in some way be 
mysteriously prevented from taking root. May they be 
winnowed out and buried like chaff as we move along from 
day to day, querying what the future will bring forth. As a 
slight testimonial of our regard for you. Dr. Gunnison, and 
your good wife, we have built this seal, and now present it 
to you. 

It is made of seeds which if permitted to grow would pro- 
duce twenty-five distinct types of plants. No dead seeds 
were used; every one, a live seed expressing the life of our 
school, which we hope will never contain anything but live 
seeds, live thoughts, and live actions. No artificial colors 
were used to reproduce the university seal true to its official 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 23 

coloring, again setting forth the character of our institution, 
standing before the world in its true color and expression. 

It tells the year you came to St. Lawrence and the year you 
leave us. 

It stands in its make-up for the association of college and 
school which have, under your wise administration, come to 
have each the sympathy of the other and each the confidence 
of the other. 

Take this testimonial, coming alike from the student body 
and from the faculty; and may it be to you what your work 
and presence will be to us, a reminder of years of growth and 
blessing for St. Lawrence under your leadership. 

When Dr. Gunnison rose to reply, as might have 
been expected, he received an ovation from the large 
student body. He spoke of the small beginnings of 
the school, with no other buildings than an old farm 
house and just a handful of students. He sketched 
its rapid growth in a few years to its present large 
proportions, with eight buildings finely equipped, and 
a student body of one hundred and fifty or more. He 
spoke most cordially of the good work that has 
been done and is being done, and the record which the 
students who have gone out are making for them- 
selves. He said that the school had made a reputa- 
tion that reached far beyond the limits of its own 
state. He spoke feelingly of the pleasant relations 
that had always existed between him and the faculty 
and student body. He declared that not the least of 
the things that had come to make the larger St. Law- 
rence, of which he was proud, was the Agricultural 
School. In accepting the testimonial, he expressed 
surprise at the possibility of such a piece of work, and 



24 A Record and a Tribute 

at the almost infinite labor and pains that must have 
been wrought into it. He said that it would be one of 
the most cherished gifts he had ever received. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH 

The series of events that gathered spontaneously 
about the close of Dr. Gunnison's term as President 
of St. Lawrence University suggested that a more per- 
manent record of them be preserved than was af- 
forded by the newspapers in which they were chron- 
icled. When the suggestion came to be acted upon it 
was apparent that an outline of the historical anteced- 
ents of these events was required as an appropriate 
setting. What follows here is an attempt to provide 
such a brief historical introduction and summary. 



The outsider has without doubt remarked the fact 
that the six men reckoned as forming the presidential 
succession of the University have all been Universal- 
ist clergymen. The explanation of this fact is found 
in the circumstances of the origin of the institution. 
The preliminary agitation as well as the direct prepar- 
ation for founding a school of this grade in Northern 
New York, began with the Universalists and in its 
earlier years was confined to them almost exculsively. 
It was their planting. And although the idea of hav- 
ing a school of theology only was soon expanded into 
the purpose to create a college also, to meet an obvious 
demand of the section it was situated to serve, it was 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 25 

natural that the primary impulse and foster-care 
should persist. 

The early years of the School, though marked by 
small classes and meager equipment, and dominated 
by what was for many years the ruling interest, the 
Theological School, were a genuine seed-time, during 
which an educational awakening such as the region 
had never known was occuring, and intellectual fel- 
lowships forming that were not without public results 
in the state, and beyond, in after years. 

For a little more than forty years from the date of 
the opening of the earlier foundation, in 1858, the 
Theological School and the College had each a separ- 
ate head, of co-ordinate rank. But on the retirement 
of Dr. John Clarence Lee from the presidency of the 
College and of Dr. I. M. Atwood from the presidency 
of the Theological School, in 1899, the Board of Trus- 
tees decided to have one head, and the Rev. Almon 
Gunnison, D.D., at that time of Worcester, Mass., 
was made the first President of the whole University. 

Good work had been done in St. Lawrence from 
the beginning. Under the different administra- 
tions in both departments gains had been made. 
Those acquainted with its history through the pio- 
neer period remember how often they were en- 
couraged by some new token of progress, — a gift 
from some friend, who was described in the ap- 
preciative language of the time as a ''munificent 
patron;" a "record" entrance or exit class; anew 
building projected or completed; self-sacrificing 



26 A Record and a Tribute 

efforts, originating with the ill-paid professors and 
local alumni, to increase endowments ; accounts, hap- 
pily not infrequent, of the way in which some alum- 
nus, "out in the world," was forging ahead and bring- 
ing honor to his alma mater; and above all and through 
all, the invincible spirit of loyalty, noticeable wher- 
ever two or three sons or daughters of St. Lawrence 
were gathered together. 

It was the remark of President A. G. Gaines, who 
bore for so many years the great weight of the task of 
being the foremost teacher in the College, the pains- 
taking, watchful, inflexible guide and disciplinarian, 
and the wise counsellor and ready helper of his stu- 
dents, that he knew his was not "a name to conjure 
with" before the public to get money for the school; 
but he had tried, without sparing himself in any way, 
"to make St. Lawrence an institution worth main- 
taining." It is simple justice to a succession of hard- 
working and meagerly paid men to say that this pur- 
pose and effort characterized also the presidents be- 
fore and after Dr. Gaines, and the instructors, who 
during that period were their co-workers. 

But the institution, besides remaining small, was 
still struggling with many adversities when Dr. Gun- 
nison came to it. The Theological School had been 
fairly prosperous. It was housed in its own building, 
Fisher Hall ; its classes had for twenty years averaged 
larger than in any other seminary of the denomin- 
ation; and its endowment had considerably more 
than doubled. That answered very well its relatively 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D 27 

modest requirements; yet its equipment was meager, 
and its President and faculty had been delayed in 
making a special effort to improve its material status 
by the overshadowing interests and needs of the Col- 
lege. The Theological School was the first to benefit 
by Dr. Gunnison's assuming the presidency of the 
University. One of his Worcester parishioners and 
attached personal friends, the late Mary F. Richard- 
son, who was later on to leave her mark on the face 
and fortunes of the University, began with the gen- 
erous gift of $24,000 to the Theological School. 

But none of the steps taken hitherto had been sig- 
nificant of the possibilities of the institution. Al- 
though not much had been said about a "greater St. 
Lawrence," a feeling had become general among the 
alumni and Trustees that there was room and a de- 
mand for larger things than had ever been undertaken. 
It was Dr. Gunnison's special qualification for the 
position to which he was called that he shared fully 
this feeling and embodied it more completely, perhaps, 
than any other man. His coming to it was hailed as 
marking a new era in its history, not only because he 
had proved himself a masterful man, bound to carry 
through what he set his hand to, but because his faith 
in St. Lawrence had never wavered in the darkest 
days, and in particular because he was recognized as 
one whose vision of the University took in a wider 
circuit of achievement and influence than had yet 
been marked out for her. 

Usually the fulfillment in such cases lags notice- 



28 A Record and a Tribute 

ably behind the dream. It is not matter of record 
what Dr. Gunnison saw as his mind cast the horo- 
scope of the coming years. But it is certain that 
those who persuaded him to enter on the task had no 
expectation that within fifteen years from the date of 
his accession such truly great changes and desirable 
improvements would be accomplished. If anybody 
had foreseen and predicted them he would have been 
deemed a romancer. 

Many of the changes wrought are so patent that he 
who runs may read them, — the radical interior trans- 
formations of the old college building, now Richard- 
son Hall; the extension of Herring Library by the 
addition of the beautiful Cole Reading Room; the 
erection of the Carnegie Science Building, with its 
fine and multifold equipment; the locating on the 
campus of a branch of the indispensable Weather Bu- 
reau; the rising, like magic, of the New York State 
School of Agriculture, with its colony of adjunct 
edifices and its multiplying accessories; the creation 
of an Athletic Field, of dimensions and thoroughness 
of construction to be ranked with the best in the 
State ; the enlarged area made necessary by all these 
accumulations, now parked and graded so as to be 
not only attractive in itself but to lend attractions to 
all the rest of the interesting assemblage of edifices, — 
these are the visible, outstanding evidences, taken in 
by the eye of every visitor, of the creative genius that 
had been working these transformations. 

The annual catalogue, swelled to twice its former 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 29 

dimensions, registers the less conspicuous but more 
important changes in the Ufe of the institution. The 
Brooklyn Law School figures here as a new-comer — 
an exotic but not an alien, — now completely incorpor- 
ated with the University and profiting both by the 
association and by the watch-care of the President. 
Here, too, one finds the program and the meanings of 
the manifold departments of the School of Agri- 
culture, as much an extension of the University's ser- 
vice to Northern New York as of its territorial area 
on the hill. More significant of the evolution of the 
University on direct lines are the lengthening lists of 
names in the several classes, connoting, as remarked 
by Dr. Gaines in his admirable summary of President 
Gunnison's record, elsewhere printed in this booklet, 
a student body several times multiplied since 1899. 

It is this correspondence and balance between the 
outward signs of growth and the inward reality, that 
constitutes the solid foundation of Dr. Gunnison's ad- 
ministration of St. Lawrence. The institution he has 
built up is in no respect a show institution. The new 
buildings, the enlarged and improved grounds, like 
the increased libraries and laboratories and equip- 
ments, are the visible expression of the demands made 
by an indwelling and expanding life. The same fer- 
tile foresight that planned the new halls and devised 
the new departments, laid the trains that brought in 
the larger registration. 

Those having inside acquaintance with the history 
of the development of educational institutions know 



30 A Record and a Tribute 

that the usual thing in such cases is a record of debt, 
keeping pace with, if not running ahead, of the record 
of improvements. The demands — the legitimate de- 
mands, for expenditure in every direction, in a grow- 
ing college, cannot be ignored. They accumulate over 
night and become more clamorous every day. It is 
impossible not to listen to them, and equally impossi- 
ble to answer them all. Yet it is dangerous to choose. 
Only a strong, competent administrator, endowed with 
wisdom and tact, can steer his course in such exigen- 
cies. For on top of the calls that are legitimate there 
is sure to be heaped many more, not really urgent, 
some for things not even desirable, but advanced by 
an advocate who has no doubt of their prime import- 
ance. 

It is, therefore, a genuine surprise to find the 
balance-sheets during Dr. Gunnison's fifteen years at 
the head of St. Lawrence, disclosing at no time any 
considerable excess of expenditures over receipts, and 
at the end showing a margin to the good. When the 
increase in every department, in all lines of work and 
equipment, in buildings, furnishings, and every va- 
riety of appliance, as well as in salaries for instruction 
and custodian service, is taken into the account, along 
with coincident lowering in interest rates, the finan- 
cial outcome of his administration stands forth as a 
truly remarkable achievement: 

Chiefly, of course, President Gunnison's mastery of 
his large problem was shown in his ability to get 
money, or equivalent material contributions, for the 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 31 

University. This is where he might have been expect- 
ed to fail. Those who knew the situation and the 
field, felt that they could not rationally predict large 
success for him. "Where is the money to come 
from?" was echoed from every quarter. And money 
was what must be had, and in large amounts, to real- 
ize in any measure the conception of a Greater St. 
Lawrence. Only those who have never been charged 
with such a responsibility, and have never been out, 
beating the bush for some religious, philanthropic or 
literary object — for an ideal end — imagine that it is a 
light and pleasant undertaking. Those who have 
been there indulge in no illusions. They know it is 
one of the hardest human tasks, and as disagreeable 
as it is difficult. 

But it is the province of a masterful man to turn 
dangers and difficulties into coins of vantage. They 
become to him opportunities of conquest. Dr. Gun- 
nison holds in his composition a strain of the knight- 
errant. It girds him to be set a task that to the ordin- 
ary plodder looms impossible and to the practical man 
appears a bit quixotic. He loves to ride forth to such 
a fray. It was this element in him that was the 
prophecy of victory when he set out to find the stones 
to build the new St. Lawrence. A combination of 
courage and expectancy was the outfit that went with 
his vision ; these twain buoyed him up as on wings of 
adventure when he went to meet and surmount ob- 
stacles that else had been walls of brass. 

The discerning see, however, that getting money or 



32 A Record and a Tribute 

"making money" must be balanced at the other end 
with prudence in using it. Otherwise bankruptcy is 
only a day behind, and will surely overtake the im- 
provident spender sooner or later. Dr. Gunnison 
looked as sharply after the outgoes as keenly after 
income. To this daily diligence in watching the leaks 
and resolutely stopping them, we owe it that his suc- 
cessor in the presidency will not have to bear, along 
with the necessarily heavy responsibilities of the po- 
sition, the harassing weight of accumulated debts. 

The last great round up of two hundred thousand 
dollars was Dr. Gunnison's crowning achievment. 
Not only was it the largest single lump added to the 
growing pile by his efforts, but it was absolutely es- 
sential to make the institution solid and put it beyond 
peril. So many and so important changes as had 
been effected entailed large additional expenses. 
Without a corresponding increase of endowment a 
yawning deficiency was inevitable. Besides, the 
President was keenly and sympathetically aware that 
the teaching force, while heavily burdened had been 
inadequately compensated. He had long purposed 
and often planned to relieve them in two particulars : 
B}^ reinforcements of the faculties ; by increasing the 
salaries of those whose long service had proved their 
loyalty and at the same time maintained the Uni- 
versity. These objects were very dear to him, as his 
associates and friends well knew. But the sum he 
had set out to raise, every dollar of it, was indispensa- 
ble to the realization of his plans. For three years he 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 33 

carried that purpose and problem day and night. 
When, after great exertions and the apparent exhaust- 
ion of every promise of subscriptions and every va- 
riety of appeal, $50,000 remained to be secured in 
order to complete the total and make any part of it 
valid, he remarked, "I must have that Fifty Thous- 
and. And I have not the remotest idea where it is 
coming from; but I know I shall get it." 

There spoke the prophetic soul, the predestined 
victor. No one could tell what made him so confi- 
dent. He could not tell himself. But an invincible 
spirit within him, with fore-looking vision, interpreted 
what had been permitted to be accomplished and what 
remained necessary to insure the value of that ac- 
complishment, to mean that the final and complete 
triumph was in store for him who went forward in 
faith. 

FAREWELL SERVICE IN THE CHAPEL 

Among the various events to which the resignation 
of President Gunnison gave rise, the service in the 
chapel on Friday morning, October 30, was the most 
home-like and touching. It was distinctively the 
Farewell of the University to the honored and beloved 
President. The students of the College and the 
Theological School, and the faculties of the two de- 
partments, came together, and in a simple, informal 
service, as arranged by a committee of students of 
which Hal T. Kearns, '15, was chairman, gave ex- 
pression to their esteem and their sorrow. 



34 A Record and a Tribute 

The exercises opened appropriately by the singing 
of "The Scarlet and the Brown." The Dean of the 
Theological School, the Rev. J. M. Atwood, D.D., 
voiced the common sentiments and emotions of the 
hour in a prayer of exceeding fitness. The chairman 
then said that Prof. Charles Kelsey Gaines, Ph.D., 
had been chosen to make the address on behalf of the 
faculties. 

DR. GAINES' ADDRESS 

It is with a feeling of reluctance and much hesitation that 
I undertake to speak on this occasion. Not because of any 
reluctance to pay my sincere tribute to Dr. Gunnison for his 
great work — anything but that — but because mere words 
seem so weak and inadequate when set against deeds. And 
the great work of Dr. Gunnison in building up St. Lawrence 
University is expressed in deeds. It is written across the 
campus in brick and stone, for all to see ; it is written in the 
archives of our college, literally in letters of gold. 

A certain note of sadness is natural at such a time as this. 
The hour of leave-taking is always sad ; I feel it and we all 
feel it strongly this morning. But I do not intend to sound 
that note today ; I shall not mar this occasion with any words 
of sadness. We are met to do honor to Dr. Gunnison ; to 
pay our heartfelt tribute when, his great task successfully 
accomplished, he seeks well-earned respite from his arduous 
labors. Let it be an hour, not of sadness, but of triumph. 

In the case of a man of really great achievement, I feel 
that the highest tribute which any one can pay is to make 
plain what he has done. What this is some of the older mem- 
bers of the faculty know well already ; others less fully ; and 
the undergraduates, I feel, have but a very imperfect knowl- 
edge of it. They do not clearly realize that things on the 
hill were not always much as they see them now. Well, I 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 35 



cannot tell it all; time would not serve. But out of the 
abundance furnished by Dr. Gunnison, I will endeavor to set 
forth some part of what he has accomplished. 

Fifteen years ago St. Lawrence was a very shaky prop- 
osition. After almost half a century of slow but intensely 
vital growth, there had come a serious check in its develop- 
ment. The classes, always small, were getting smaller. The 
college spirit, so strong in earlier years, was at the lowest 
ebb that I have ever known at St. Lawrence. The endow- 
ment was still pitifully inadequate, with little prospect of 
relief. To many — and of these I certainly was one — a sud- 
den collapse of the whole college edifice seemed imminent. 

How many among you realize what a stressful and critical 
period the years just past have been for weak colleges 
everywhere? If any in this time of rapid growth did not 
grow, they were threatened with extinction. This was the 
alternative — either they must quickly show themselves worthy 
and able to live, or they must die. 

At such a moment we looked abroad for a man who could 
save the college and assure its future. When I say "we," I 
mean some of the older members of the faculty, all the board 
of trustees, and many loyal alumni. We were all oppressed 
with a heavey sense of responsibility. If we made a mis- 
take — Heaven help the college! We looked, and we saw one 
man — one man in whom we had faith that he could do this 
work — Dr. Gunnison. And we made no mistake. 

To persuade Dr. Gunnison to undertake this disheartening 
task was not easy. But he had always believed in the col- 
lege and loved it. He could not resist its appeal. And a 
strong man, conscious of power to do and seeing the way, is 
confident where others might shrink. Though with natural 
reluctance, still he accepted the call, and in the fall of 1899 
became President of St. Lawrence University. 

Were we justified in our choice? Was he justified in his 
acceptance? The whole campus, and the long line of stu- 
dents who marched across it to this meeting, are the suf- 
ficient answer. But let me indicate briefly. 



36 A Record and a Tribute 



In the year 1900 the graduating class numbered seventeen; 
in 1908, fifty-one — three times that number; and in 1912 
sixty-six received their diplomas — the number being almost 
quadrupled. And the college spirit, from its lowest ebb, had 
risen again to full tide, so that a long column of students, 
such as marched this morning, paraded the streets of Canton 
with banners and shouts and songs, with all loyalty joining 
and heartening the president in that final effort to secure an 
adequate endowment the success of which has assured the 
future of St. Lawrence. So the spirit of 1886 returned, and 
history repeated itself ; but — and this is a habit which his- 
tory has — it repeated itself on a much larger scale. 

When Dr. Gunnison came to St. Lawrence there stood on 
the campus three real college buildings — for I will not count 
the old wooden gymnasium which you are now so eager to 
replace with something better — the old main building, now 
called Richardson Hall, Herring Library, bare of its present 
extension, and the Fisher Memorial belonging to the Theo- 
logical School. First the Cole Reading Room was added to 
the Library, increasing its value many times. Then came the 
Carnegie Science Hall, with all its admirable equipment. Do 
you realize that not many years ago all departments were 
crowded together in one unsuitable building? The partitions 
of three or four smaller rooms, I remember, had been 
knocked out to make a place for chemistry, and all those 
singular odors that emanate from a laboratory penetrated 
every class-room. Not for one day could the present work 
be carried on under the old conditions. Next a United 
States Weather Bureau Station appeared on the edge of the 
hill ; then the first building of the School of Agriculture ; 
then the Dairy Hall; and then — all those minor structures 
that now dot the landscape all the way to Little River. 

Fifteen years ago — I will not say that you could kick a 
football quite across the campus at a single bump, but it 
would not have needed many repetitions. Now it would cost 
you almost a day's labor to drive a ball around the full cir- 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 37 



cuit of the college grounds. And in those days there was no 
athletic field, and all games were played on the hard-beaten 
mud of one little corner of the little old campus, close among 
the college buildings. Now you might travel far to find a 
larger and better athletic field than ours — secured for us by 
Dr. Gunnison's efforts. 

You take pride in your athletics. In 1900 we had no ath- 
letic record; I do not remember that we had ever played 
against a real college team. And today the main student 
body is about to march to Hamilton, fired with the hope of 
adding a fifth to a series of already four football records. 
It is Dr. Gunnison who has made this possible for you. 

But these are mere incidents of his work. He found here 
a university of two departments, the College of Letters and 
Science and the Theological School; he leaves it with four, 
having added the Brooklyn Law School and the State School 
of Agriculture. Greatest of all, the college endowment, ut- 
terly inadequate when he entered upon his office, amounting 
to scarcely more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, 
is now more than half a million — almost quadrupled by the 
president's strenuous and indefatigable labors. How difficult 
and discouraging his task often appeared, only he can tell. 
Hardest of all was the crowning achievement, — the heart- 
breaking fight against time for the winning of that final 
two hundred thousand which has ended the sheer penury 
with which St. Lawrence had struggled for more than fifty 
years, and at last set the college on a firm foundation. 

I have been asked to speak for the faculty. They have 
done what they could. They have served the college with 
unswerving devotion in fair weather and foul; some have 
even died at their posts. They have done an indispensable 
work, not to be forgotten — for without their staunch loyalty 
the life of St. Lawrence might have been sapped at the root 
and all efforts in its behalf made vain. But apart from this 
they claim no credit for the president's great achievement. 
His work is peculiarly his own; though none can rejoice 
more heartily in his success than do the faculty. 



38 A Record and a Tribute 



And here let me pause to remark, their task is still unduly- 
hard. Their number has not increased at an even pace with 
the rest ; while the roster of the undergraduates has been 
quadrupled, theirs is barely doubled, — and their burden is 
in no way lightened, though the appliances and the reward are 
now more adequate. 

Dr. Gunnison, in behalf of the faculty, I salute you as the 
man who has saved the college that they serve and love, and 
placed it on a firm foundation ; as the man who has enabled 
them to make their work more effective by better equipment 
in every department of instruction; as the man who has 
made their more adequate remuneration possible, and who 
has filled their hearts with new courage and hope. And I am 
sure that all — students and faculty alike — join me in wishing 
you many years of health and happiness, and the joy of the 
consciousness of a great and worthy work triumphantly ac- 
complished. 

At the close of Prof. Gaines' remarks, Mr. D. G. 
Sherwin, '15, President of the Thelomathesian So- 
ciety, was called on to speak for the students. 

MR. SHERWIN'S ADDRESS 

No words the students can say would be an expression of 
our deep feelings of gratitude and esteem for you Dr. Gun- 
nison. And so it remains for me in a very brief manner to 
intimate the thought that is back of this service. And I 
would explain first to you its purpose. On last Saturday 
evening you were tendered a reception by all your friends, 
the trustees, alumni, towns-people and students. Because we 
were only a part on that occasion, we could only partly and 
imperfectly help you to understand our attitude. And it 
was because the expression of this attitude demanded a more 
personal outlet that we students have come here at this ser- 
vice to greet you. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 39 

On that same Saturday last, the trustees of the University 
attempted to show you somewhat of their appreciation by 
appointing you the first President Emeritus of St. Lawrence 
University. And that decision in this appointment was unani- 
mous. We, as students, can only bid you good-bye and God- 
speed, but by coming here together, in a body, we can do 
that unanimously. 

There should be little of actual sorrow in such a parting 
as ours for we have such a wealth of personal memories, 
and such a store of friendly relationships for keepsakes. 
These incidents will remain with us always and will neces- 
sarily recall to our minds the bigger things that you, our 
President, have accomplished. 

Because I have felt that I could not completely or aptly 
express the sentiments of the students and their appreciation, 
I would use the words of another, who in speaking of Part- 
ing and Forgetting has this to say — "What faithful hand can 
do these? Our great thoughts, our great affections, the 
truth of our lives never leave us. Surely they cannot sep- 
arate from our consciousness, and they shall follow in what- 
soever that consciousness shall go" — It is just this thought of 
lasting gratitude, lasting remembrance, and lasting appreci- 
ation that we as your students wish to leave with you. 

TRIBUTE OF THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL 
FACULTY 

After fifteen years of service as president of St. Lawrence 
University, Rev. Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D., is now about 
to surrender the cares and responsibilities of the office. In 
view of so important an event, the faculty of the Theologi- 
cal Department of the University wish to put on record their 
appreciation of his genuine interest and constant co-operation 
in the work of their department ; and to testify to the esteem 
and love which their labor and fellowship with him 
through these years have cemented. Both as a man and as an 



40 A Record and a Tribute 



official, he has proved himself a loyal friend and fellow- 
helper. They desire, therefore, to express their sincere re- 
gret that these happy and profitable associations have come to 
an end. 

Though absent from us, we assure Dr. Gunnison and his 
devoted wife — whose kind and thoughtful acts are a treas- 
ured memory — that they are not forgotten. We shall follow 
them with our interest and affection, and pray for their 
health and happiness. 

J. M. Atwood, 
I. M. Atwood^ 
G. E. Huntley, 

H. P. MORRELL. 

ACTION OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 

The Chamber of Commerce of Canton, New York, desires 
hereby to record its deep sense of appreciation of the fifteen 
years' work by Dr. Almon Gunnison as President of the St. 
Lawrence University, and to express its regret that he is so 
soon to sever his relationship with the University and the 
town. 

As a citizen of our town Dr. Gunnison has been foremost 
in all movements which have made for our permanent ad- 
vancement and benefit. No agitation for good was ever 
started here without his loyal and enthusiastic support ; no 
plan for the higher welfare or happiness of our citizens 
failed to secure his whole-souled adherence and active aid. 

As head of St. Lawrence University, in his official capacity, 
he has carried that institution far along the road which will 
eventually place it among the greatest institutions of learn- 
ing in our land; in his personal relations with the students 
he has always been the kindly adviser, the sympathetic friend 
and the cordial social equal. 

As a man of affairs Dr. Gunnison has stood for sterling 
business integrity, and has ever set his face against retro- 
gression on any proposition, public or private. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 41 



Canton owes Dr. Gunnison the debt due the loyal, far- 
sighted, fearless, honest, openhanded, prominent citizen who 
has advanced the interests of the community in which he 
lived, not only by his personal labor but by his example and 
precept. 

This organization feels that this resolution but feebly ex- 
presses the general attitude of Dr. Gunnison's fellow citizens 
toward him, and regrets more than it can say that all it can 
do is to express its appreciation of the fifteen well rounded, 
golden years of honorable activity which Dr. Gunnison has 
given us out of a life which has been one long record of use- 
fulness to his fellow-men. 



LETTERS FROM EDUCATORS AND PUBLIC 
OFFICIALS 

President RheeS;, The University of Rochester, 
Rochester, N. Y., Nov. 3, 1914. 

Dear Sir — I trust that I am not too late to say a word with 
reference to my neighbor. Doctor Gunnison, in connection 
with his withdrawal from active service at St. Lawrence 
University. 

Doctor Gunnison and I assumed our responsibilities for 
our respective institutions at about the same time, and during 
all the years of my sojourn in the State of New York the 
occasional meetings with the President of St. Lawrence Uni- 
versity have been the source of a good deal of pleasure and 
profit to me. His voice has been heard in academic councils 
in the State on many occasions and with much interest and 
respect. 

Your neighbors know something of the significance of the 
services which Doctor Gunnison has rendered St. Lawrence 
during these years, and they congratulate you as much as 
they admire him. 



42 A Record and a Tribute 

With heartiest good wishes for both the University and its 
retiring President, and the hope that he may see many years 
of the happy leisure of the ripest years of manhood, I am 

Very sincerely yours, 

Rush Rhees. 

Acting President Hooper, Tufts College, 
AIassachusetts, Nov. 3, 1914. 

Dear Sir — I thank you for your letter informing me that 
you are planning a formal and permanent recognition of the 
services of Rev. Almon Gunnison, D.D., as President of St. 
Lawrence University for the past fifteen years, for Tufts 
College desires to be counted with those who would do honor 
to your retiring President. 

Dr. Gunnison was favorably known by us here at Tufts, 
before he went to St. Lawrence, as a genial gentleman, an 
observant traveller, an entertaining lecturer, and an enthusi- 
astic patron of education. At that time, we counted the 
University fortunate in securing him for its leader. As the 
years have passed, we have rejoiced to see increasing pros- 
perity come to the College and new honors come to him. 
The increase of endowment, the adding of many new depart- 
ments of education and research, the intensifying of "the 
St. Lawrence spirit," proved him to have been a tireless 
worker, a wise organizer, a persuasive pleader and a strong 
personality. These fifteen years have been the full, mature 
years of his life and he has given you his best. He has won 
the retirement he now seeks, and our wish for him is that for 
many years he may enjoy his well earned freedom and our 
wish for the College is that it may continue on its upward 
course to greater usefulness. 

It gives me great pleasure to send to you and to Dr. Gun- 
nison this greeting on behalf of Tufts College. 
Very sincerely yours, 

William L. Hooper, 

Acting President. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 43 

President Day, Syracuse^, University, 
Syracuse^ N. Y., Oct. 27, 1914. 

Dear Sir — The educators of our State unite in expressions 
of regret that Dr. Gunnison's impaired health forces his re- 
tirement from the Presidency of St. Lawrence University. 
They unite with equal emphasis also in their hope for his re- 
covery to a degree that will at least permit him to enjoy with 
comfort the quiet days that are his by right of a great ser- 
vice to the cause of higher education. 

Dr. Gunnison's success as a College creator and adminis- 
trator has been of the first order. He has lifted St. Lawrence 
above the horizon and made it an institution that commands 
respect and confidence. He has accomplished his own work 
without jealousy or petty rivalry that grudges the success of 
his neighbor. He has been appreciative of genuine work for 
the cause of education wherever he has seen it. He has been 
genial, affable and courteous in intercourse with his co- 
laborers. 

Dr. Gunnison has justified the wisdom of the trustees who 
appointed him and has shown in the fifteen years of his ad- 
ministration all of the elements of a great college president. 

The alumni are debtors to him for he has added largely 
to the value of their diplomas. The community has had in 
him a personality of positive and helpful influence. 

The State, the friends and the causes for which Dr. Gun- 
nison has wrought so nobly are not to lose him. While he 
lives he will emphasize and enforce his past in us by his 
beautiful character and when his translation comes at last 
they will abide to increase through all the years. 

The stars that shall gather in his firmament he will rec- 
ognize as his creation and they shall shine forever. 

Very truly yours, 

James R. Day. 



44 A Record and a Tribute 

President Thomas, Middlebury College, 
MiDDLEBURY, Vt., Oct. 30,1914. 

Dear Sir — I received your letter of October 19th and it 
gives me great pleasure to testify to the esteem in which I 
hold Doctor Gunnison. 

I was born in northern New York and have always re- 
tained a keen interest in its welfare. One of the most en- 
couraging tokens of progress in that country in recent years 
has been the growth of St. Lawrence University under the 
administration of Doctor Gunnison. I mean by growth, not 
merely expansion in numbers, but larger ambitions, clearer 
conceptions of opportunity, and worthier ideals of service. 
Doctor Gunnison has been the leader who has changed ef- 
fectively the popular notion of St. Lawrence from that of a 
sectarian school to that of the public institution for higher 
education in the northern counties of the Empire State. 
Some day on the new foundation his faithful toil has laid 
there will be erected a university adequate to the vast terri- 
tory which is its parish and worthy of the sturdy stock who 
subdued it from forest to fertile field. 

Faithfully yours, 

John M. Thomas. 



Principal Hawkins, State Normal School, 
Plattsburgh, N. Y., Oct. 28, 1914. 
Dear Sir — I rejoice in the opportunity to pay my sincere 
appreciation and respect to Dr. Almon Gunnison upon this 
occasion of his retirement from beneath the weighty burdens 
of his executive career. It is my hope, that being relieved 
from the fatiguing cares of college administration, he may 
enjoy many full years of happiness and contentment in the 
honor which is his and the cheerful freedom to do and say 
without hindrance the things of which the big world stands 
so much in need and which he is so completely capable of do- 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 45 

ing and saying. In the loss of St. Lawrence may a larger 
society find a wholesome gain. 

I have known Dr. Gunnison for many years with affection 
for the loveliness of his personal qualities and profound ad- 
miration for his large heart and sagacious mind, and, in com- 
mon with all his brethren in that profession of which he has 
been so worthy an exponent, shall greatly miss the charm of 
his presence and the wisdom of his counsel in the affairs in 
which we are concerned. 

Sincerely yours, 

Geo. K. Hawkins. 

President Davis^ Alfred University, 
Alfred. N. Y., Oct. 28, 1914. 

Dear Sir — It gives me much pleasure to learn that it is pro- 
posed to publish a book expressing the appreciation of the 
friends of Doctor Gunnison for the remarkable services which 
he has rendered to St. Lawrence University and to education 
in general during his administration of the college, now soon 
to be relinquished. 

Dr. Gunnison holds a high place in the esteem of the edu- 
cators of the state. His strength of mind and character are 
everywhere dominant. While he has added so much to the 
local equipment of St. Lawrence University, he has enriched 
the state in the standards and ideals of education which he 
has promoted. 

My personal relations with him have been exceedingly 
pleasant. Many of our citizens and students will long re- 
member the Founders' Day address which he delivered at 
Alfred University on the occasion of our 78th anniversary 
in 1913. 

In his retirement from active work, Alfred University ex- 
tends to Doctor Gunnison most cordial greetings and very 
best wishes for many years of restful and useful enjoyment. 

Yours very truly, 

BooTHE C. Davis. 



46 A Record and a Tribute 

The University of the State of New York^ the State 
Department of Education, Albany, Oct. 28, 1914. 

Dear Sir — I am glad to learn that the alumni and the 
friends of St. Lawrence University are recognizing the emi- 
nent services of Dr. Gunnison on the occasion of his retire- 
ment from the Presidency of the University. 

Dr. Gunnison's work at St. Lawrence University has been 
notable. The progress of the University under his adminis- 
tration has been remarkable as regards both the material and 
the scholastic interests of the institution. During his admin- 
istration, Dr. Gunnison has seen St. Lawrence University 
advance from an institution that was about to close its doors 
for lack of support to a strong, vigorous school with in- 
creased resources, increased attendance and increased interest 
and energy. While others have helped in this work, the 
personality of Dr. Gunnison, the man, has been the pre- 
dominating influence. St. Lawrence University and in fact 
all Northern New York, owes to Dr. Gunnison a debt of 
gratitude that it can never hope to pay and that it can only 
inadequately express. 

I regret that I was unable to be in attendance at the re- 
ception tendered him and to express to him on that occasion 
my appreciation of his services. 

Very truly yours, 

Chas. F. Wheelock. 



Superintendent Maxwell, The City Superintendent 
OF Schools, New York City, Oct. 23, 1914. 
Dear Sir — I am glad indeed to learn that Dr. Almon Gun- 
nison's friends are preparing to render him due honor on the 
occasion of his retirement from the presidency of St. Law- 
rence University. 

I have known Dr. Gunnison for nearly thirty years, from 
the time he was a successful and popular pastor in Brooklyn, 
until the close of his term of office as President of St. Law- 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. A7 

rence University. In all of that time, he has been among 
the foremost in every good work for the advancement of 
scholarship and the uplift of society. 

Very truly yours, 

W. H. Maxwell, 

City Superintendent of Schools. 

President Butler, Columbia University, in the 
City of New York, Oct. 22, 1914. 
Dear Sir — I regret to learn of the forthcoming retirement 
from active service of President Gunnison of St. Lawrence 
University. All of us who are in touch with the work of 
higher education in this state and in the nation are familiar 
with his ability and character and with the sterling service 
which he has rendered as President of St. Lawrence Uni- 
versity. He will carry with him into his well deserved period 
of rest and refreshment the good wishes and esteem of all of 
us who have been his colleagues and associates for years past. 
Very truly yours, 

Nicholas Murray Butler. 

Editor McKinstry, Watertown Daily Times, 
Watertown, N. Y., Oct. 23, 1914. 

Dear Sir — May I not address a word to your committee at 
this time, expressive of the appreciation which we feel for 
the great service Dr. Almon Gunnison has rendered the 
North Country, during the years of his connection with St. 
Lawrence University? 

The University at Canton is the only college in northern 
New York. We value it highly. We are a clanish people up 
here, not narrow but jealous of our own institutions. We are 
proud of a home university of such acknowledged standing 
that we can send our own sons and daughters there to be 
educated. We feel that Dr. Gunnison has been largely in- 
strumental in bringing to the school its present general rec- 
ognition as a university of worth. 



48 A Record and a Tribute 



When he became its president, he inaugurated a campaign 
for its upbuilding that was fruitful in results. He has always 
been careful of its scholarship. He has insisted that the mere 
idea of growing physically by adding more buildings, should 
not become paramount. Its growth in scholarship has ever 
been before him, and he has always emphasized this feature. 

His service has been most successful, and the present-day 
university is a monument to his labors. He has placed St. 
Lawrence on a firm foundation for the work of those who 
follow him. 

The presence of Dr. Gunnison in northern New York has 
been beneficial in other ways for he has moved among us, he 
has spoken at our meetings, he has made us better by contact 
with his trusting, peaceful and kindly personaHty. He has 
disseminated good that will continue long after this gener- 
ation is gone. No other man who has labored in northern 
New York during the years of its settlement has accomp- 
lished more for the people as a whole, than he. 

Yours very truly, 

W. D. McKlNSTRY. 

President Stryker, Hamilton College, 
Clinton, N. Y., Oct. 24, 1914. 
Dear Sir — Dr. Almon Gunnison as President of St. Law- 
rence University has rounded a long and honorable term of 
service. He has eagerly given fifteen years of the very core 
of his life to his arduous efforts to broaden and deepen the 
influence of a work and institution dear to him. It has been 
a pleasure to me to meet him as I have — all too seldom — and 
to feel that even a little I knew another watchman and senti- 
nel on the educational walls ever alert and devoted. 

I am truly sorry that he closes this chapter and I beg leave 
thro you to proffer my sincere congratulations to him upon 
the memories and the friends that always will remain his own. 

Cordially yours, 

W. Woolsey Stryker. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 49 

President Stowell, University of Southern California, 

Department of Education, Los Angeles, Oct. 31, 1914. 

My dear President Gunnison — A New York paper gives me 
the information that you are about to seek release from the 
official burdens under which you have labored for the past 
ten or more years. My first impulse is to congratulate you, 
for I know something of the cares of administration. You 
have reared for yourself a lasting monument which the fu- 
ture cannot pass unnoticed : you have inaugurated a new era 
in the history of a growing institution and have set new 
ideals before the youth who have been connected with it. I 
can conceive of no work more useful or more satisfactory. 
In less than a quarter of a century, most of the public men of 
the day will be forgotten, but your memory will be fresh as 
long as St. Lawrence endures. When you compare the 
equipment, the aesthetic, and the scholastic ideals of St. Law- 
rence as you took the Presidency with the same as you now 
retire, you will get my thought of the greatness of the work 
wrought. 

With this thought of congratulation is associated a cer- 
tain m.easure of sympathy, for 1 realize that there must be a 
sense of loneHness as the farewell is said to college life. 
There is an inspiration in college associations which cannot 
be described or appreciated by one who is a stranger to the 
experience. 

It will be impossible for you to retire to inactivity. I hope 
therefore that you will find a congenial occupation that will 
keep you in touch with young life. 

I do not forget my own personal obligations to you for 
what I have received at your hands. My own life has been 
greatly helped by your service. 

At present I am at the head of the Graduate Department 
of our University. In this graduate work we have registered 
since last commencement over 200 Bachelors representing 75 



50 A Record and a Tribute 

institutions. My duties are not light, but I am enjoying the 
work. With pleasant memories 

Yours with esteem, 

Thomas B. Stowell. 

Justice Hughes, Supreme Court of the United States, 
Washington, D. C, Oct. 31, 1914. 
Dear Sir — I count it a privilege to have a share in the trib- 
ute to the retiring President of St. Lawrence University. 

Dr. Gunnison has rounded out a career of rare usefulness, 
as preacher, writer, and educator, and we are all debtors to 
him for what he has so successfully wrought. We of New 
York are especially under obligation to him for his work as 
President of the University — a distinguished service to the 
State which I am glad of this opportunity gratefully to ack- 
nowledge. He retires with universal esteem and with the 
best wishes of a host of friends. 

I trust that there will remain to him many years of con- 
tinued vigor. 

Sincerely yours, 

Charles E. Hughes. 

Collector Daniels, Ogdensburg, N. Y., Oct. 28, 1914. 

My dear Dr. Gunnison — When the residents not only of 
this County, but of this North Country heard of your resig- 
nation and knew that you were to leave them, they more 
keenly and deeply regretted your decision than you can 
realize. Many, yes very many of us knew you personally and 
each felt honored by the acquaintance. Those who were not 
so fortunate, knew you so well by reputation, that they too 
felt that this section of our State was losing a citizen that it 
could ill afford to spare. 

There are those friendships in our lives that make memory 
dear and we, who are to be separated from you as you leave 
us to enter new scenes and surroundings, can still find pleas- 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 51 

ure in rememebring the genial, the gentle and winning char- 
acteristics which have so endeared you to us. 

The great institution of learning which you have built up 
will always remain a monument to your high ideals of life. 
There are hundreds of men, scattered over this country, upon 
whom, to their great advantage, you have stamped the im- 
pression of your own good life, and the world is better that 
such as you have lived in it. With what pride you can look 
back on your own useful life and what a comfort it must be 
to feel that you have ever followed the teaching of the Mas- 
ter, and that when he calls, you can truly say "I am ready." 
Most sincerely yours, 

William H. Daniels. 

LETTERS FROM GRADUATES AND PERSON- 
AL FRIENDS 

Rev. H. B. Taylor, St. Paul's Universalist Chxjrch, 
Adams, Mass., June 29, 1914. 
My dear Dr. Gunnison — I'm downright sorry that you felt 
you must give up the Presidency even though you deserved 
to loaf or do whatever your soul desired after the biggest 
piece of work done by anyone in the denomination for at 
least half a century, not to go back before. 

But gratitude and long life and many more satisfactions 
attend you. 

Cordially yours, 

H. B. Taylor, '95. 

Leo F. Willson, St. Albans, Vt., July 16, 1914. 
My Dear Dr. Gunnison — When I read in my last Lau- 
rentian that you had resigned I could scarcely believe my 
eyes. I had never thought of St. Lawrence without you at 
the helm and I haven't realized it yet. I am sure it wont 
seem like the same old place without "Prexy Almon" at the 
head of it. I know of no one who has earned a rest more 
than you and I trust you will thoroughly enjoy every min- 



52 A Record and a Tribute 



ute of yours. You may well feel proud of what you have 
done for St. Lawrence as it is not given everyone to ac- 
complish so much with so little. I know all the alumni feel 
as I do. They are mighty proud of their president and what 
he has accomplished. 

I can't blame you for wanting a rest but at the same time 
1 regret it is going to take you away from St. Lawrence. 

With my very kindest regards in which Mrs. Willson joins, 
I am 

Most sincerely yours, 

Leo F. Willson^ '06. 

Louis Heaton Pink, Attorney at Law, Forty-four 
Court Street, Borough of Brooklyn, New York 
City, June 15, 1914. 
Dear Dr. Gunnison — I was sorry to see that you had re- 
signed. I realize that you are entitled to a rest. You have 
earned it and the gratitude of every son and daugh- 
ter of the old college. You have been the great archi- 
tect, the great builder, what you have sown will be reaped in 
the centuries to come. Not a bad job to look back on. I 
hope when my time comes to retire I can leave as fertile a 
field, as well harvested. 

But you must be tired of speeches and of letters, and I 
only want you to know that I, like all the rest, have a very 
deep affection and admiration for "Uncle Al." 

Sincerely yours, 

Louis H. Pink, '04. 

Rev. B. B. Gibbs, Saint Paula's Universalist Church, 
Saint Paul, Minnesota, June 28, 1914. 
To few is it given to perform the great service, and leave 
so enduring a monument as the old school rejuvenated and 
her work enlarged, which you will have done. 
With love and blessings I shall always remain 

Yours, 

Burt B. Gibbs, T. S. '93. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 53 

Dr. Geo. L. Perin, The Franklin Square House^ a 
Home for Working Girls, George L. Perin, Presi- 
dent, Boston, Nov. 2, 1914. 

My dear Dr. Gunnison — I have to acknowledge that we 
have done fairly well at the Franklin Square House, but 
when I get through here and am ready to pack up, if I shall 
deserve half as much credit as you deserve for your work at 
St. Lawrence, I shall be very happy. I regard your achieve- 
ments for the University as nothing less than phenomenal. 
We have a new phrase down here with which to describe 
the World's Champions. It it the "miracle man," and so I 
call you the miracle man in college administration. I don't 
know anybody else who could or would have done it. 

I am not yet able to form a picture in my mind of you at 
rest. You will probably be writing for various papers and 
magazines, and yet I hope you will try to have a little rest 
and a good deal of fun. So far as I can remember you have 
not looked at your wife for the last twenty-five or thirty 
years. How would it do to sit down and spend one 
whole evening with her, read her a love poem? How would 
it do to take her on a trip with you — to Egypt, or San Fran- 
cisco, or Tokyo? I would recommend now that your col- 
lege work is done a second honey-moon for you two frisky 
young people. 

I have taken your new address and propose to keep it 
handy. I expect to be over in Brooklyn every two or three 
weeks from this time on and propose to use your house as 
my hotel. I think it would be an improvement over the Man- 
hattan. 

Please drop around and see me as often as you can. The 
oftener you come the happier you will make us. 

With kindest regards to Mrs. Gunnison, I am, 

Yours for keeps, 

George L. Perin. 78. 



54 A Record and a Tribute 

Dr. R, E. Sykes, First Parish Universalist Church, 
Malden, Mass., Nov. 4, 1914. 
Dear Dr. Gunnison — It was a splendid climax and I am 
especially gratified, that you have been made and really are 
President Emeritus. There certainly are rewards, whose 
value can not be rendered in coin, as you surely can testify. 
The action of the trustees seems to me wise and I'm sure 
must have your approval. It seems along the lines you sug- 
gested, and I have no doubt but the final action, whatever it 
may be, will be equally satisfactory to you. 

There's a wise providence in the life of institutions as in 
individual lives. The career of St. Lawrence indicates this. 
I suspect for a time you will miss the activity and excite- 
ment of a life of administration but when you get adjusted 
to the new conditions, no doubt you will be happy and con- 
tented. 

Sincerely, 

Richard E. Sykes, '83. 

Irving Bacheller, Riverside, Conn., Oct. 23, 1914. 
Dear Doctor — Tomorrow my heart will be in Canton with 
you and your friends who will, I believe, try to express their 
affection for you and their deep appreciation of your ser- 
vices to the university. I should like to take a look at you 
and Mrs. Gunnison and sing your praises and hear them 
sung. But I must content myself with sending this letter to 
remind you of my love and of my regret that you desire to 
be relieved of your burdens. Others have laid excellent 
foundations, but you have been the first great builder that our 
institution has known. You have raised it into goodly pro- 
portions and given it the guaranty of permanence and will 
have left to your successors a task far easier than that which 
confronted you. For these accomplishments you shall be 
honored of all its children in the years to come. What un- 
failing skill and devotion has distinguished your term of ser- 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 55 

vice there. "You have brought many captives home to Rome 
whose ransoms did the general coffers fill." 

Yours sincerely, 

Irving Bacheller, '82. 

Judge Charles W. Appleton, City Magistrate's Court, 
City of New York, Sept. 31, 1914. 
You know that I am, personally, exceedingly sorry that you 
are leaving the colleg.e. I beHeve that you have erected for 
yourself upon that campus, a great monument, and that in all 
the future history of the college your administration will 
rank as the strongest. It has been marvelous, to my mind, 
that you could possibly have accomplished anywhere near 
what you have. My residence in Canton was during the 
time that the college was rapidly going down. Nobody 
seemed to be able to stop its decline. But, immediately after 
you took hold, there was a most marked change for the bet- 
ter, and I do hope that you will not let go now, until the 
whole matter of the presidency is settled, if possible, by 
unanimous vote of the trustees. 
With very best wishes, I am, 

Sincerely yours, 

Charles W. Appleton, '97. 

A. F. Lansing, Architect, 1 Burdick Building, 
Watertown, N. Y., Oct. 14, 1914. 
My dear Dr. Gunnison — It was with much regret that I 
learned of your resignation as President of St. Lawrence 
University. St. Lawrence University will never be the same 
to me, if you are not there. Some one may have your po- 
sition, but he cannot fill it. 

The new President has a high standard for him to follow 
at St. Lawrence. If he can accomplish one-half what you 
have done, he should throw roses at himself. 

Yours very sincerely, 

A. F. Lansing. 



56 A Record and a Tribute 



The First Universalist Church, Worcester, Mass. 

Dear Dr. Gunnison — Having learned that you have relin- 
quished the office of President of St. Lawrence University, 
which you assumed upon concluding your pastorate with us, 
we send to you our sincere congratulations upon the success 
which has attended your efforts. 

We thought we kept you busy in Worcester, but when we 
see what you have accomplished at St. Lawrence we feel 
that the added years have rested lightly on your shoulders 
and that though you had earned some exemption there has 
been no abatement of your arduous labors. 

We trust the years before you will be brightened with many 
pleasant memories of old days and old friends, and glad- 
dened with work for others which your manifold experiences 
so well fit you to do. Our only regret is that in retiring 
from your work in Canton you did not select Worcester for 
your home, though with so many of your home circle and 
kindred in Brooklyn, we can understand its strong attract- 
ions. We will agree to compromise if you will continue 
your church membership with us. Otherwise prepare for 
war. 

Our latch-string is always out to you and Mrs. Gunnison 
and we trust at the next roll call you will be with us to ans- 
wer to your names in person. 

Praying that God's richest blessings may rest upon you 
both, 

Sincerely, your friends of the First Universalist Church, 
Worcester, Mass. 

George E. Hill, Clerk. 

Edward B. Lent, Freeport, Long Island, New York, 
Oct. 25,1914. 
Dr. Almon Gunnison, 

President Emeritus of St. Lawrence University. 
Dear Dr. Gunnison — Mrs. Lent and I send to Mrs. Gun- 
nison and yourself our heartiest congratulations on this 
turning point in your ever glorious career ! Look back over 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 57 



the road and at what point would you have changed the 
landscape? Pastor-preacher-teacher-philosopher and friend 
inspiring always to better things — exemplar and leader of 
young men to their better selves. In '88 when I went North 
you were a year younger than I. am now and yet you seem 
the same — you are the same vigorous youth of the vibrant 
voice and winsome smile ; the religion of brotherhood flower- 
ing in man ! No, your income is not that of the elect 44 of 
this country who take in a million dollars a year but that is 
because you have been scattering your precious self among 
the multitude all these years. From now on you're entitled 
to the softest seat in the automobile and the best one in the 
theatre. 
Long may you both be with your dear ones in Brooklyn. 

Sincerely, 

Edward B. Lent, '92. 



The Rev. Dr. Willard C. Selleck, Cumberland Hill, 
R. L, Oct. 25, 1914. 
My dear Dr. Gunnison — I beg to assure you personally of 
my profound appreciation of the splendid service you have 
rendered the university. You have "wrought a good work," 
and you will have the joy of knowing that you have built 
yourself into the institution in a large and substantial way, 
and to some extent have built yourself into a host of fair, 
young lives. What better joy can a man ask for, to crown 
his years? 

I wish you again "peace, sweet peace." May the light of 
Divine truth continue to shine through your soul, as through 
a beautiful western window, and to be reflected into other 
hearts ! There are so many hearts that are dark and sad ! 

With grateful recognition of all your courtesies to me, I 
remain, always 

Very sincerely yours, 

Willard C. Selleck, T. S. '81. 



58 A Record and a Tribute 

The Rev. Dr. Frank O. Hall, Church of the Divine 
Paternity, Central Park West, and 76th Street, 
New York City, Oct. 27, 1914. 
My dear Dr. Gunnison — At the Anniversary Celebration of 
the Chapin Home, w^hich v^^as held last Saturday at the 
very time you were receiving at St. Lawrence, all the people 
present voted to send you a greeting through me. I was 
supposed to telegraph you, but I did not get away till late 
and had a sermon for the next day stewing in my head and so 
I neglected to obey orders. So this is not a letter but a tele- 
gram which you received Sunday. It contains the love and 
respect of the assembled members and friends of the Chapin 
Home and all good wishes for the happy future of yourself 
and Mrs. Gunnison. We are all glad that you are coming to 
live in Brooklyn. We are all proud of you and shall hope to 
see much of you. I guess that is all, except that Mrs. Hall 
joins with me in sending our personal love to you and Mrs. 
Gunnison. 

Fraternally yours, 

Frank Oliver Hall. 

Chaplin Couden, House of Representatives,, Wash- 
ington, Nov. 10, 1914. 

Dear Dr. Gunnison — We are indebted to your daughter for 
the "St. Lawrence Plaindealer" containing the vivid descrip- 
tion of the great ovation extended to you by the trustees, 
faculty, students, and the people of Canton. The honors 
conferred upon you were well deserved; we only wish we 
could have been there and given our presence and sanction to 
all that was done in making your heart and your good wife's 
heart glad. 

Your work and her's will live and redound to the good dear 
old St. Lawrence when you and she shall walk arm in arm 
in the golden streets of the well done good and faithful ser- 
vants on the shores of eternity. God bless you President 
Emeritus and Madame President Emeritus! 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 59 



It was a tribute well deserved and will be, we are sure, a 
well spring of joy to you so long as you shall live. 

May the well earned rest in the new, old home surrounded 
by your children, grand-children, brothers and friends be 
fully and richly enjoyed. 

We are having a little rest after the long drawn out con- 
gress and are thoroughly enjoying the relief from the daily 
task at the capitol. 

With all good wishes to you and yours and the hope that 
we shall have the pleasure of greeting you in our home some 
time in the near future 

I am with renewed devotion as always your friend and ad- 
mirer 

Henry N. Couden, T. S. 78 

Florence Kollock-Crooker, D.D., London, England 
Sept. 1, 1914. 

My dear Doctor — A belated copy of the Universalist 
Leader reached me here recently and from it I learned that 
you have determined to sever your official connection with St. 
Lawrence University in the near future. 

I cannot resist from joining the large company of grad- 
uates and friends of St. Lawrence, in expressing my regret 
that you have thought best to bring your connection with the 
University to a close. However, if this decision is made to 
safeguard your health and to lengthen your years, then we 
accept the decision. 

You saw the great need of leadership there. Your heart 
was bound up in your church. As you spoke your counte- 
nance betrayed the struggle that was going on between your 
duty to your church and your great love of the college. 
I remember how earnestly I plead with you for my Alma 
Mater, for my love for her was great, and my confidence in 
your ability to serve and to bring to higher things this weak- 
ling, was unbounded. I know of no other man who could 
work this miracle. 



60 A Record and a Tribute 

When I learned that you had yielded to the repeated call, 
had made the great sacrifice, laid down your church work 
and given yourself to the great undertaking, I know that 
now was the day of St. Lawrence's salvation, and you would 
be her savior. Now the long hard fight has been won, St. 
Lawrence takes high rank among the colleges of the land, 
and the warrior has all the honor and gratitude that a grate- 
ful and a devoted alumni can bestow upon him — their gifted 
and loyal benefactor. 

Most gratefully and sincerely, 
Florence Kollock- Crocker^ T. S. 75. 

Hon. Job E. Hedges, New York, June U, 1914. 
Rev. Almon Gunnison, D.D., 

Canton, New Work. 
My dear Dr. Gunnison — Yesterday was a very happy day 
for me, not only by reason of the honor conferred by St. 
Lawrence University, but for the pleasure it gave me to meet 
you and pass a most delightful day in the environment of so 
wholesome an institution as St. Lawrence University. My 
thanks also for the thoughtfulness indicated in your note of 
yesterday which I opened on the train. 

June tenth will long remain in memory with me, and the 
degree I received will always be the means of recalling to 
mind your own gracious courtesy and the dignity with which 
you preside over the institution of which you have so many 
years been successfully the head. 
My regards to Mrs. Gunnison. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Job E. Hedges. . . 

Rev. Dr. Edward Young, Bedford Presbyterian Church, 
NosTRAND Avenue and Dean Streets, Brooklyn, 
New York, June 12, 1914. 
My dear Dr. Gunnison — The announcement of your resig- 
nation is of great interest to the whole public, and I join 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 61 



with your multitude of admirers in expression of appreci- 
ation of your invaluable services to the public, and that you 
may continue to be of public use in New York State, 

I am particularly glad to learn that we are to have you as 
a resident of Brooklyn. 

With highest esteem, I am, 

S. Edward Young. 



The Rev. Harry Westbrook Reed^ Watertown, N. Y., 
June 15, 1914. 
My dear Dr. Gunnison — You have made St. Lawrence what 
she is. Others of course went before and performed great 
tasks well, in laying the foundations and in fostering its 
growth. But like all institutions it had its critical period 
when it must cope with new conditions and meet new de- 
mands. It is needless to go through the whole story, but I 
feel that you took the Presidency at this most critical time 
and rendered a service such as few, if any other man, could 
have rendered. Almon Gunnison and St. Lawrence are today 
synonymous terms. But my deepest regret is a personal one. 
My esteem and affection have been very deep, and this you 
have known. It will scarcely be the old St. Lawrence with- 
out you. 

Harry W. Reed, '99. 

Ex-President F. W. Hamilton, Boston, Mass., 
June 18, 1914. 
Dr. Almon Gunnison, 

St. Lawrence University, 

Canton, New York. 

Dear Doctor Gunnison — I saw a newspaper statement of 

your proposed retirement after another year of service. It 

came as something of a surprise and good deal of a shock to 

me. You have been so long connected with St. Lawrence 



62 A Record and a Tribute 

and your administration has been so solidly and so admirably 
successful that I had expected it to last many years longer. 
I can hardly believe now that the college will allow you to 
leave its service. For the sake of the institution and the 
cause I hope it will not. Whether you go or stay, however, 
you have made a splendid record, one of which any man may 
well be proud and I am glad to have the opportunity of tell- 
ing you that I appreciate it. 

Very truly yours, 
Frederick W. Hamilton, D.D., LL.D., 

Ex-President Tufts College. 

COMMENTS OF THE PRESS 

[From the St. Lawrence Plaindealer, Oct. 18, 1914] 
On Saturday evening, October 24, at the college gymna- 
sium, there is to be tenderd a public reception, to which the 
faculties, alumni, students, trustees and townspeople and 
friends in general of President Gunnison are invited, to meet 
President Gunnison, who is to lay down the reins of gov- 
ernment of the University November first and move to his 
Brooklyn home. 

Because of a general demand coming from all quarters that 
an opportunity be given many people to meet the Doctor and 
Mrs. Gunnison before their departure ,an informal committee 
met some weeks ago and arranged to give this reception, and 
preparations are well under way. It will undoubtedly be the 
largest affair of the kind ever held in Canton. 

Fifteen years ago Dr. Gunnison came here. He was faced 
with a stupendous task, to take charge of a university that 
greatly needed help, a small university seriously handicapped 
for funds to pay its ordinary running expenses. The task 
looked large. To accomplish it seemed an impossibility. It 
seemed that the most that could be even hoped for was to 
place it, as it stood, on a sound financial basis. Dr. Gunnison 
was not dismayed. He knew that he was entering on the 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 63 



struggle of his life, a task that would have deterred many 
another younger man, and he at once sent out his battle cry; 
not for funds to meet the running expenses of the St. Law- 
rence as it then existed, but for funds for an even greater St. 
Lawrence. Those living in Northern New York know how 
well he has carried out his pledge, made voluntarily. We 
have seen the endowment grow steadily from a few hundred 
thousand to many hundred thousands. We have seen build- 
ings multiply. We have seen a State School of Agriculture 
come to us with its large interests, both in a money way and 
in its influence. We have seen a student body grow from less 
than a hundred to three and four hundred. We have seen a 
large law school annexed. 

We have seen added to our assets as a community a man 
with loyalty and vigor, a man who stood for the best in 
everything. Through this man we have seen the annual 
revenue to the village increased by many thousands of dollars. 
His influence has been felt throughout the North Country. 
We have seen a man undaunted by obstacles constantly 
achieving new successes, and we have seen him sacrificing his 
years and strength for the University he stood for. 

No sooner had the informal committee begun to canvass the 
situation and arrange for a reception to Dr. and Mrs. Gunni- 
son than they began to realize the task set before them. 
Word came in from the townspeople, from the students, and 
from people far and near that they were going to be present 
and do honor to them. ^ It speedily became evident that the 
committee must prepare to meet the popular demand, and so 
it was decided that no individual invitations could be issued, 
but that they must be given in a general way, through the 
press. The committee therefore extends its invitation, not 
only to the students, faculty and alumni, but to the business 
men of Canton who owe so great a debt to Dr. Gunnison, to 
their wives and to the people of Canton in general, and also 
to those whose friendship and admiration he has won every- 
where, to be present on that night at the gymnasium and bid 



64 A Record and a Tribute 



Dr. and Mrs. Gunnison God speed, knowing full well that 
their energies can always be counted upon, both in the inter- 
ests of the University, the town and the North Country. 



[From The Laurentian, Oct, 1914J 

The reception which has been planned for Dr. Gunnison 
promises to be one of the biggest affairs of its kind ever held 
in Canton. Not only will the students, faculty, trustees, and 
alumni pay tribute to the retiring president, but all friends 
throughout Northern New York will be invited to attend. 
We are about to lose a very valuable man from the North 
Country, — one who has rendered both the college and the 
community great services. He assumed the presidency at a 
time when St. Lawrence was so feeble in its resources that 
its continuance was not assured; he is leaving it more 
flourishing and better equipped than those who called him 
to this great task could have hoped. Greatly has he justi- 
fied the wisdom of their choice ; he has done for the Uni- 
versity what no other had been able to do in equal meausure. 
Under his administration the Cole Reading Room was con- 
structed, Richardson Hall remodelled, Carnegie Sicence 
Hall erected and equipped, the Theological Chapel refitted 
and adorned, our admirable athletic field purchased and at 
great cost brought to its present state, — all this, and much 
more. The Brooklyn Law School was added to the Uni- 
versity ; a United States Weather Bureau Station was es- 
tablished on the campus; the State School of Agriculture 
was founded, its extensive grounds secured, and its many 
buildings erected. And then, as a crowning feat, the great- 
est service and most difficult task of all, the two hundred 
thousand dollar endowment fund was raised by his untiring 
efforts and in spite of many discouragements. Well has he 
earned, not only the respite from his arduous labors that he 
now seeks, but all the honor that the University can bestow. 



Alnion Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 65 

[From The Ogdensburg: Journal, Oct. 26, 1914] 

At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of St. Lawrence 
University held Saturday in Canton Dr. Almon Gunnison, 
the retiring president, who handed in his resignation last 
Spring to take effect the first of November, was appointed 
President Emeritus at an annual salary of $1,000. Dr. Gun- 
nison will return to his home in Brooklyn, where he resided 
before taking charge at St. Lawrence fifteen years ago. As 
President Emeritus he will continue to take an active interest 
in and exert a strong influence upon the affairs of the college 
over which he presided so long and so ably. Owing to the 
difficulties which will be faced in obtaining a successor who 
will be qualified to step into his shoes and carry along his 
work, the trustees will take their time before coming to a 
final conclusion. The board took an adjournment until Jan- 
uary and this is believed to mean that there will be no ap- 
pointment before that time. 

Saturday evening a farewell reception was held in honor 
of Dr. Gunnison in Canton, which was attended by several 
hundred people. Dr. Gunnison was presented with a mag- 
nificent loving-cup as a token of remembrance. The presen- 
tation was made by Hon. L. P. Hale and a sympathetic re- 
sponse was made by Dr. Gunnison, who was deeply touched 
by the incident. He will leave for Brooklyn the present 
week and will carry with him the sincerest best wishes of the 
whole north country. His departure is not only a loss to the 
college but to the citizenry of this part of the state. He 
belonged not only to St. Lawrence but to the whole region. 

[From the Brooklyn Eagle, Oct. 25, 1914] 

Canton, October 24 — A notable gathering of students, pro- 
fessors, trustees and townspeople was held this evening in 
the gymnasium to say farewell to Dr. Almon Gunnison, who, 
after fifteen years of service, retires on November 1 from 
the presidency of St. Lawrence University. Last summer 
Dr. Gunnison announced his resignation, stating that he had 



66 A Record and a Tribute 

always planned that when he reached the age of 70 he should 
give up active work and return to his home in Brooklyn. 
He was graduated from St. Lawrence in 1868, and continu- 
ously since that time has been closely identified with the Uni- 
versity, serving as a trustee during most of that period, and 
on two occasions declining the presidency. When he left the 
pastorate of All Souls Church, Brooklyn, he went to Wor- 
cester, Mass., and ten years later was persuaded to go to 
Canton. 

As a result of the great work which he has done for the 
college and as evidence of the esteem in which he is held by 
the people of Canton and Northern New York, the large hall 
in which the reception was held could not at one time take 
care of all those who came to do him honor. The stores of 
the village were closed at an early hour that all could attend 
the meeting. It was a veritable outpouring of the entire 
community. The students of the junior class were the 
ushers. Refreshments were served to all, and the occasion, 
while one of sadness, was a magnificent tribute to the man 
who was so much beloved by all who knew him. 

A great many letters from the alumni and from friends of 
the college were received, which will appear in a souvenir 
book which is to be presented to Dr. Gunnison and which 
will also include a report of the tribute given on Friday at 
the meeting of the Board of Regents in Albany. 

The following letter from Dr. St. Clair McKelway was 
read: 

Albany, October 23, 1914. 
"My Dear Judge Hale — The pleasant experience in which 
we have joined at the fifteenth convocation in grateful recog- 
nition of the Rev. Dr. Gunnison constrains me to congratu- 
late the St. Lawrence University on the affection in which it 
regards him, and yourself on the terms in which you made 
for yourself and your colleagues that fact known. He de- 
serves all that can be said, and his service to citizenship, to 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 67 



the pulpit and to all right uplift deserves to be mentioned 
everywhere his name is honored. 

"Please be sure that Brooklyn holds Dr. Gunnison in high 
regard and bright remembrance. 

"Sincerely yours, 

"St. Clair McICelway." 



L. P. Hale, counsel of the Public Service Commission of 
the Second District, a graduate and trustee of St. Lawrence, 
was asked to represent the University and to speak for the 
trustees, faculty, students and friends of the retiring presi- 
dent to the large assembly. 

The board of trustees had come from their distant homes 
and the celebration was one of the most notable in the his- 
tory of the University, and the town. The day before Presi- 
dent Gunnison was the guest of the Board of Regents at its 
great convocation in Albany, where he received with Dr. 
Taylor, of Vassar College, who also was retiring, the appre- 
ciation of the State educational authorities. Judge Hale in 
very happy phrases summarized the administration of fifteen 
years of Dr. Gunnison at St. Lawrence, paying high compli- 
ment to his efficiency and his success. 

A response followed from the retiring official. He re- 
hearsed the story of his coming from his New England home 
to enter upon his untried work. The institution was at a low 
ebb. The dream of the president was for a larger St. Law- 
rence. The address of Judge Hale indicated some of the 
things that had been accomplished during his administration. 
The student body of the college department had increased 
three-fold. The four buildings had increased to twenty-five. 
The endowment had multiplied four-fold. The annual in- 
come had increased in equal proportions. The Law School 
in Brooklyn had been established, which is largely attended ; 
an agricultural school, with 200 students, had been created, 
which was the precusor of the many schools of like character 
in the State; an athletic field had been created; a building 



A Record and a Tribute 



for a Weather Bureau had been built by the United States 
Government; old buildings had been modernized and refur- 
nished, and at the close of the administration all bills paid and 
a substantial surplus was in the treasury after very sub- 
stantial increases in the salaries of the faculty. 

President Gunnison spoke of the harmony which had pre- 
vailed. Faculty, trustees, executive committee and students 
had shown entire co-operation, with the alumni and citizens 
of the town had won his gratitude for the many kindnesses he 
had received. With vigor unimpaired he had tendered his 
resignation, leaving the institution, he thought, with every 
condition for a successful career in the future. 

A magnificent loving-cup was presented, and with all good 
wishes the company separated. 

Dr. Gunnison will make his home in Brooklyn, taking up 
his residence in the Flatbush section. The committee had 
invited the alumni and many friends from out of town, and 
they were present in large numbers, including many from 
Brooklyn. 

[From The Brooklyn Times, Oct. 28, 1914] 

Brooklyn, and more particularly the Eastern District, hon- 
ors and appreciates heartily and thoroughly. Dr. Almon Gun- 
nison, whose service as Universalist pastor here was as ac- 
ceptable to his Creator as it was beneficial to his congrega- 
tion. So there is no note of discord, no jarring of harmony 
in this community at the announcement that Dr. Gunnison 
has been made President Emeritus of St. Lawrence Uni- 
versity, and that proper financial provision has been made for 
the old age that is the common lot of man. 

Dr. Gunnison's services to the great educational institution 
of which he was the active head for fifteen years, have been 
incalculable. He has never wearied in well-doing, and the 
splendid status of St. Lawrence University now is at once a 
tribute to his administration, and an addition to the culture of 
the entire country. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 69 

[From The Hill News, Nov. 2, 1914] 

After completing his fifteenth year as President of St. 
Lawrence University, Dr. Almon Gunnison left Canton on 
Friday evening for Brooklyn, where he will make his future 
home at No. 59 Rugby Road. His departure from Canton 
will be deeply felt, as Dr. Gunnison was loved and honored 
alike by the students of the University, the alumni, and the 
townspeople. 

Dr. Almon Gunison took up the duties of President of St. 
Lawrence University on November 1, 1899, succeeding Dr. 
John Clarence Lee, who had served four years. At that time 
there were only four college buildings, Richardson Hall, 
Herring Library, Fisher Hall, and the Gymnasium. There 
were ninety-eight students in the College and fourteen in the 
Theological School, making a total registration of one hun- 
dred and twelve in the University. The endowment at that 
time was $156,000, and only $2,800 was received for annual 
registration fees. At the present time the endowment fund 
has been increased to $562,000 and the amount of registration 
fees to nearly $10,000. 

Taking as his ideal a better known and a greater St. Law- 
rence, Dr. Gunnison began at once, in the first year of his 
administration, his efforts to secure the necessary funds, — 
first, for the establishment of a professorship to be held by 
a woman. This was created the following year, after $36,000 
had been subscribed by former members of Dr. Gunnison's 
parishes in Worcester and Brooklyn. That same year, fire 
destroyed the main building of the Clinton Liberal Institute 
at Fort Plain, and in view of the unpromising outlook for the 
successful continuance of that institution. Dr. Gunnison saw 
in the possibility of incorporating it with St. Lawrence Uni- 
versity the best solution of the problem. This was accomp- 
lished largely through his efforts, and with the transference 
of the charter came a fund of $40,000 with $50,000 more sub- 
ject to a life interest in favor of the present beneficiaries. 
Many bequests which had been made the University were paid 



70 A Record and a Tribute 

that year as a result of the personal efforts of President 
Gunnison. 

In 1902, Edward H. Cole, of New York, gave sufficient 
funds for the erection and endowment of the Cole Reading 
Room, and the following year the building was opened to the 
students of the University. The preceding year saw extens- 
ive repairs on Fisher Hall, including the placing of several 
memorial windows in the Theological Chapel. In 1903, the 
Brooklyn Law School, in Brooklyn, which had previously been 
established and operated by a private corporation, was pur- 
chased and taken over by St. Lawrence University with the 
full approval of the State Board of Regents, and since that 
time has been remodeled and enlarged under the influence of 
Dr. Gunnison and the trustees. It is now under the complete 
control of the University, and is administered by an Execu- 
tive Committee of the trustees in New York and Brooklyn. 
Dr. Gunnison has conducted the commencement exercises of 
this School and awarded the degrees for the past eleven 
years. 

In the same year, 1903, President Gunnison succeeded in 
raising enough money from alumni subscriptions to place 
forty scholarships at the disposal of needy students, and to 
make many much needed improvements on the College 
Campus, including concrete sidewalks and cinder roads. 

In the years immediately following no extensive improve- 
ments were made ; but all this time Dr. Gunnison, through 
personal interviews with prominent alumni and others inter- 
ested in the future of St. Lawrence, was working for an in- 
crease in the endowment. Through his efforts Carnegie Sci- 
ence Hall was erected, as a gift of Andrew Carnegie, in the 
fall of 1906. This is the most modern and the most com- 
pletely equipped of any of the college buildings, and is prob- 
ably the finest educational building in Northern New York. 
That same year ground was broken for the main building of 
the School of Agriculture, which came largely as a result of 
representations of Dr. Gunnison to the late Congressman 
George R. Malby, of Ogdensburg, and former Assemblyman 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 71 



Edwin A. Merritt, Jr., of Potsdam, strongly backed by the 
general sentiment of Northern New York. These repre- 
sentatives secured the necessary legislation, and later an ap- 
propriation of $250,000 for the establishment of the present 
Agricultural School in connection with St. Lawrence Uni- 
versity. The following year, an annual appropriation of 
$35,000 was voted for the maintenance of the school. In the 
fall of the same year the United States Government estab- 
lished a Weather Bureau station at Canton, and erected the 
building now seen on the College Campus. Early in the 
spring of 1907 work began on the Athletic Field, for which 
a gift of $13,000 had been secured from Mr. Thomas Weeks, 
of New York, from whom the St. Lawrence University Ath- 
letic Field has received its present name, — although it was 
only after much persuasion on the part of Dr. Gunnison that 
Mr. Weeks allowed his name to be affixed to his gift. Dur- 
ing the previous year Mrs. M. A. Richardson gave several 
thousand dollars for the remodeling and repairing of Rich- 
ardson Hall, the original college building, which then re- 
ceived its present name. 

One of the greatest achievements of Dr. Gunnison was the 
raising of the sum of $200,000 for the endowment fund, — a 
movement started in 1911, and completed in 1914. A gift of 
$50,000 was offered the University if the amount of $150,000 
could be raised by its friends. This additional sum was 
raised by Dr. Gunnison by dint of great labor, and as a result 
more than $200,000 was permanently added to the endowment 
fund. 

During the past few years, several new buildings have been 
erected for the use of the School of Agriculture as a result 
of State appropriations, among these being Dairy Hall, the 
dairy barns, the poultry building, and the horticulture build- 
ing. Aside from this Dr. Gunnison has made it possible to 
set the salaries of the professors at a more adequate figure. 
Nearly all debts have been extinguished and a surplus cre- 
ated. Modern equipment and furnishings have been placed 
in all the buildings of the University. 



72 A Record and a Tribute 



During his incumbency Dr. Gunnison has seen St. Law- 
rence University grow from a small, obscure institution of 
scarcely more than a hundred students in all departments, to 
a university of nearly seven hundred students in the College 
of Letters and Science, the School of Agriculture, the Law 
School and the Theological School. He has seen the endow- 
ment increased almost four-fold, the student body quad- 
rupled. He has seen the establishment of the Law and Agri- 
cultural departments, the campus area multiplied many times, 
the construction of one of the most admirable athletic fields 
in the State, the remodehng of the old buildings and the erec- 
tion of many new ones. By all these improvements St. Law- 
rence has secured a well recognized and honorable place 
among the small colleges of this country, and Dr. Gunnison 
has won a degree of esteem and love in the hearts of all loyal 
Laurentians which it is not easy adequately to express. 

LFrom the Christian Leader, July 4, 1914] 

It will be the general impression that Dr. Gunnison has 
won the right to retirement, yet not less general will be the 
regret at his going. He came to St. Lawrence University 
when its affairs were at low ebb, its resources were well nigh 
exhausted, and none knew where to turn for help ; it was a 
time of crisis for all small colleges, when they must either 
grow or die. He came at a great personal sacrifice ; as the 
loved and honored pastor of our large church in Worcester, 
Mass., his position was enviable, and comparatively few cares 
accompanied his congenial work. But to the call of duty he 
answered, "Ready." 

The story of his achievements in rehabilitating the college, 
securing for it large if not ample endowment, and placing it 
in the front rank of the smaller colleges of the land, reads 
like a romance. New buildings have been erected, and new 
departments added, until the institution has won the right to 
the title of university. 

And this has come very largely through the personal efforts 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D 73 

and the personality of this man, who commanded attention 
and won the support of multitudes of people, who came to 
trust in the enterprise because they trusted him. Such an 
achievement as the raising of the last two hundred thousand 
dollars for the endowment ranks little short of the marvel- 
ous. And in the administration of the local affairs of the 
college, though without experience in such lines of work, Dr. 
Gunnison gathered an able and congenial faculty to which a 
constantly increasing company of students was drawn. 

But perhaps the most delicate task the new president was 
obliged to face was the readjustment of the institution to its 
wider relations with the educational world. Like every col- 
lege, St. Lawrence was a child of a church, and, like every 
other, came to the time when conditions demanded the loosing 
of the ties. How to loose them without injustice to the 
church, the institution or the conditions, was the problem 
which has troubled many a college president during the last 
twenty years. And it is still a question with many as to 
whether the matter has ever been settled right. Whatever 
sectarian motive may have promoted the founding of all 
these institutions of learning, it was seldom that they were 
administered with sectarian bias, or that any serious re- 
straints were placed upon teacher or teaching; really schools 
and colleges were generously contributed to the cause of 
education by the churches. The Universalist Church, though 
one of the smallest, made its full proportion of these contri- 
butions, and not the least of these contributions was St. 
Lawrence University. But the time came when if the col- 
lege was to maintain its place among the others of the land 
and enjoy the benefits and privileges of others, it must follow 
them to a new patronage. To do this without injustice to 
the heroic founders of the college, and preserve certain in- 
alienable rights, was the task to which Dr. Gunnison ad- 
dressed himself. 

In all probability his successor will not be a minister, and 
probably not a Universalist. All things being equal, justice 
might call for one or both, but the call will undoubtedly be 



74 A Record and a Tribute 

for an "educator who is an administrator." But the con- 
ditions which take the colleges from the churches at the same 
time compel justice to the churches, and as the churches have 
made their contribution to education, it is not likely that if 
there be losses in the separation, the loss will fall more 
heavily upon the schools than upon the churches. 

However, the management of Dr. Gunnison through this 
trying experience was greatly to his credit, and he is worthy 
of all honor. He will lay down his task next November, 
instead of a year from then as first announced, while still in 
vigor of body and mind, to take up his residence in Brooklyn, 
N. Y., from which place he will be able to continue his large 
service to his church and the cause of education. 

[Editorial from the November Laurentian] 

The resignation of Dr. Almon Gunnison from the active 
presidency of the University and his election as President 
Emeritus, a distinction never before conferred by St. Law- 
rence, marks the climax of a successful career, the culmi- 
nation of a life of great usefulness and large achievement. 

Almon Guninson was born in Hallowell, Maine, on March 
2, 1844. His father was a prominent clergyman of the Uni- 
versalist denomination, being well known throughout New 
England. The future president of St. Lawrence received his 
preparatory education at the Green Mountain Institute, Wood- 
stock, Vermont, and at Dalhousie College, in Halifax, N. S. 
Later he entered Tufts College, where he was a student for 
several years. He was graduated from the Theological De- 
partment of St. Lawrence University in the class of 1868. 

Immediately upon graduation he was called to become pas- 
tor of the Universalist church in Bath, Maine, where he re- 
mained for three years, during which time his success was so 
marked that he was called to the very responsible position of 
pastor of All Souls Church, Brooklyn. This pastorate he held 
for nineteen years, greatly endearing himself to his people 
and winning the friendship and regard of ministers of all 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 75 

sects. Upon leaving the city he was tendered a reception in 
which ministers of all denominations participated, making it 
a notable event in the religious life of the city. 

His resignation from the pastorate of the Brooklyn parish 
was occasioned by his acceptance of a call to the First Uni- 
versalist Church of Worcester, Mass., one of the largest 
churches in the denomination. The success which had at- 
tended his previous pastorates was repeated in Worcester, and 
his influence was soon felt in the life of the city. His elec- 
tion to the presidency of the Ministerial Union indicates the 
esteem in which he was held by his fellow clergymen. For 
several years he was also president of the Board of Trustees 
of the Worcester Public Library, and of the Welcome Mis- 
sion, a philanthropic institution. 

To Dr. Gunnison St. Lawrence University turned, in an 
hour of deep discouragement, as the one man capable of sav- 
ing the institution and establishing it on a firm foundation. 
He had always loved the college and believed in its future ; 
and this great task he accepted, though with much natural 
reluctance, in the summer of 1899, entering upon his new 
duties in November. He thus became the first president of 
the University as a whole, each department hitherto having 
had an independent head — anomalous as this arrangement 
seems now. The Laurentian of that month says: "Dr. Gun- 
nison's acceptance of the high office to which he has been 
elected has been a source of much gratification to the students 
and alumni, and to all friends of the institution. His arrival 
will be the signal for the awakening of a new interest in the 
University and its welfare." Those who compare the St. 
Lawrence of today with that of 1899 know well how far that 
prediction fell short of the truth. But his great achievements 
in this field are elsewhere related in this issue. 

Dr. Gunnison is well known as a writer and lecturer. He 
has written several books of essays and travel sketches which 
have found much favor with the public. He has traveled 
extensively in Europe, and in Egypt and Palestine. Before 



76 A Record and a Tribute 

coming to St. Lawrence he had lectured extensively, and has 
long been recognized as a speaker of unusual charm. He is 
undoubtedly one of the best known men in the Universalist 
denomination. For many years he was one of the general 
trustees of the Universalist Church, and he has always been 
deeply interested in every denominational movement. 

Dr. Gunnison's interest in St. Lawrence University dates 
back far. He became a member of the Board of Trustees in 
1878, more than twenty years before he assumed the presi- 
dency. He has always believed heartily in the small col- 
lege, as is shown in an article from his hand on "The advan- 
tages of a Small College," which appeared in The Laurentian 
of March 1899. 

St. Lawrence was most fortunate to secure as its president, 
at a critical juncture, such a man as Dr. Gunnison. Being 
known far and wide as a man of influence and ability, he 
soon brought to the University a degree of recognition which 
it had not previously enjoyed. His untiring efforts and 
notable achievements for St. Lawrence have indeed been 
recognized and appreciated far beyond the immediate con- 
stituency of the college. Time and again he has been accord- 
ed honors by other colleges. The Degree of Doctor of 
Divinity had been conferred upon him by St. Lawrence in 
1883, and the degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred by 
Union College in 1901 and by Tufts in 1905. The esteem 
in which he is held by the New York State Board of Regents 
was shown by the honors recently accorded him in Albany by 
that body. 

The retirement of Dr. Gunnison from the active adminis- 
tration of the University does not indicate any waning inter- 
est on his part. It is merely a much needed relief and re- 
spite demanded by his advancing years, well deserved and 
won by a career of exceptional activity and achievement. He 
carries with him, as has always been shown in so many ways, 
the best wishes of a host of friends. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 77 



[From the November Laurentian] 

Dr. Gunnison came to the presidency of St. Lawrence Uni- 
versity on November 1, 1899. It was a trying time in the 
history of the college, when the slender endowment had be- 
come wholly insufficient to meet the needs of the University. 
The professors were receiving very inadequate salaries, and 
the buildings were not equipped in a manner to maintain St. 
Lawrence's standards of instruction. There were only five 
buildings on the campus, the main building, the gymnasium, 
Herring Library, Fisher Hall belongong to the Theological 
School, and the President's house, which had not been occu- 
pied by Dr. Gunnison's predecessor. There was even a debt 
of about $1200 on the gymnasium. Both arts and science 
classes were held in the old main building. Some of the 
class-rooms were heated by base burners, and it is said that 
the college girls vied with one-another in supplying the pro- 
fessors with "holders." One of the professors at that time 
had to act as librarian in addition to his other duties. 

St. Lawrence found in Dr. Gunnison the one man fitted to 
guide it, as it were, through that critical period of its adoles- 
cence, and bring it into strong manhood. 

In his first year's report Dr. Gunnison described his plan 
for building up the University, as "quickening general inter- 
est in its work, heartening old friends and securing new sup- 
porters, trying to broaden its work by obtaining students 
from a wider area and funds from friends both old and new." 
As a method of awakening interest in the college, Dr. Gun- 
nison accepted numerous invitations to address teachers' in- 
stitutes and conventions, schools, clubs, and churches. He 
took upon himself the burdensome task of soliciting funds. 
Among the first results of his labors was an increase in the 
endowment of the Woman's Professorship, of $10,000; also 
the securing of the full Chapin Professorship fund of 
$30,000. The year 1899-1900 shows an increase in the college 
endowment of $34,000. At one time Dr. Gunnison even gave 
a series of lectures for the benefit of athletics. 



78 A Record and a Tribute 



An increase in the number of students was the next thing 
to be considered. Only seventeen students were graduated in 
1900. There were forty members in the next entering class. 
There were forty Seniors in 1904, and seventy Freshmen the 
next fall. In that interval of four years there had been about 
fifty per cent, increase in the entering and graduating classes. 

The new president did not overlook any means by which he 
might strengthen the college. The Laurentian, at that time 
in debt and sadly in need of encouragement, owes much to 
him for its reorganization. He early announced his intention 
of occupying the President's house on the campus, and the 
needed repairs were at once made in that building. 

Progress was rapid in the next few years. The -corner- 
stone of Cole Reading Room was laid in 1902. The single 
year, 1903, marks the purchase of the Dean Athletic Field, the 
completion of Cole Reading Room, the addition of the 
Brooklyn Law School to the University, and an increase in 
the endowment of the Woman's Professorship, making the 
immediate establishment of that professorship possible. A 
year or so before, an instructor had been secured for the 
department of Geology and Mineralogy. The department of 
Pedagogy was added to the curriculum, also the salaries of 
the professors received a much-needed increase. 

In 1905 Dr. Gunnison's dream of a separate science build- 
ing was realized through the gift for that purpose made by 
Andrew Carnegie. It is hardly believable that only ten years 
ago the departments of the college now occupying a three 
story building provided with all the modern equipment, were 
crowded into the Main Hall along with all the other classes 
now held there. 

Shortly after the securing of the new Science Hall, a 
United States Weather Bureau Station was established on 
the Hill. The remodeling of the main building, since called 
Richardson Hall, by the gift of Mrs. Richardson, has had its 
importance in augmenting the efficiency of the college. A 
steam heating plant has long been in operation in place of the 
old stoves. 



Almon Gunnison, D.D., LL.D. 79 



Only four years ago, although the college was on a firm 
footing and in no danger of collapse, it felt keenly the neces- 
sity of a larger endowment in order to carry on its work 
properly. Dr. Gunnison set $200,000 as his goal, and, ever 
ambitious for St. Lawrence, set out in search of it. This 
time the students had a share in the enterprise, and rejoiced 
with Dr. Gunnison on the completion of the task. 

It is, in a way, difficult for us to fully appreciate the extent 
of Dr. Gunnison's work here, because so much that on first 
thought might be ascribed to other causes might be traced 
indirectly to the new spirit and confidence instilled into the 
University by his coming. There is no doubt that for years 
to come, the college will be feeling the benefit of the friend- 
ships which Dr. Gunnison has made for it. 



80 A Record and a Tribute 



Note by the Editor 

My impersonal testimonial to Dr. Gunnison is 
wrought into and throughout this Record and Tribute. 
But the opportunity to bear witness to a trait which I 
have much appreciated and admired in him has no- 
where presented itself. I therefore subscribe it here. 
Dr. Gunnison did not lay aside his profession and 
character as a minister in becoming a college official. 
His earlier love was not allowed to be eclipsed by his 
later occupation. His service to the church and re- 
ligion has continued unabated. As his pastor for 
three-and-a-half years, I have had the means of know- 
ing how sincerely and deeply interested he has been in 
the great institution to which he gave himself in his 
early manhood. Always in his place at the Sunday 
service, never overlooking any extra meetings, ever 
ready to answer calls for his aid on any occasion, and 
such a helpful, hopeful, generous parishioner as to 
make his absence size up like a misfortune, Dr. Gun- 
nison has met successfully a test to which not a few 
clergymen have proved unequal. Among his titles 
to a style of honor that never loses its lustre let this 
be frequently and fervently spoken. I. M. A. 



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